Understanding the HOPE Scholarship Program

HOPE stands for "helping outstanding pupils educationally". The HOPE scholarship program is a high valued, famous and unique scholarship program of the state of Georgia. As the name indicates, it's purpose is to help the outstanding students who study in the public as well as in the private colleges. The scholarship was created in 1993 and Georgia has since been followed by numerous of other states, as these have implemented scholarships with the similar
purpose. Statistics reveal that around one million students have been awarded this scholarship for their study. Diploma, Certificate, and Degree programs also receive this scholarship, which is available for those students who enroll for the half-time and the full-time programs of the institutions.

"The program is entirely merit-based, meaning that a student's ability to pay for his/her own education is not a factor in determining if he/she receives it.

The basic requirements are:

(Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Students who enroll for the half-time program, if taxpayer, can get tax credit for up to $1500 during the first two years of the education. During the first year they can get up to $1000 tax credit for the tuition fees paid and $500 for the second year. This amounts to a total of $1500 in tax credit. Hence the credit has to be got in two years time. Many students who enroll for the half-time program have benefited out of this student scholarship. The credit is made available on per-student basis.

For the full-time students the HOPE scholarship offers full tuition fees and other fees that are applicable during the admission to the college. A book allowance for about $300 is also available. Expenses such as room and board are not covered in this.

A full-time student can get $3000 in scholarship amount per year. They can also get a Georgia Tuition Equalization Grant for $900 per year. The requirement for this scholarship is that the student should be enrolled in either a full-time or half-time course in a public or private institution respectively.

This scholarship ends once they complete the degree or when they have attempted 127 semester or 190 quarter hours. If the degree program that the student has joined is more than 127 semester then they can receive grant for up to a maximum of 150 semesters only. For more details on the HOPE program check out their website.