Tech does not oppose HOPE limit

Tech administrators do not oppose legislation that passed in the Georgia House of Representatives last week limiting the number of credit hours covered by the HOPE Scholarship to 127 hours, regardless of degree program requirements. If passed by the Senate, the bill will come into effect for all students enrolling in a state school after July 2005.

In a letter written by Institute President Wayne Clough to Representative Bill Hembree who introduced the bill, HB 299, he wrote, "As might be expected, this did give us some initial concerns about our students being reimbursed for all their required college credit if they continued to be otherwise HOPE eligible. However, having now discussed this matter with officials with the Georgia Student Finance Commission, and getting a full explanation as to how this change would be administered, we are of the opinion that HB 299 will offer a viable option for those whose curricula require 127 hours to graduate. Therefore we do not have any opposition to the bill."

Under current laws, HOPE will cover the cost of college until either graduation or until 127 credit hours have been attempted for degrees requiring less than 127 credit hours for complete. However, for degree programs requiring more than 127 credit hours, HOPE will currently cover all of the credits required for graduation, up to 150 hours.

The legislation would end this exception. While the legislation is targeted towards joint degree programs that offer students a chance to earn a bachelor's and a master's degree at the same time, none of the dual degree programs at Tech are covered by HOPE. According to Registrar Jo McIver, 11 majors at Tech will be affected by the 127 credit hour limit. There are currently 5,047 students enrolled in these majors. While the legislation in HB 299 will not affect students already enrolled at Tech, more than 5,000 people could be enrolled in affected majors in the next four years.

The "viable option" Clough referred to in his letter is the HOPE "grace period." If a student begins his or her last semester with less than 127 credit hours, HOPE will pay for the entire last semester, even if the final number of credit hours paid for exceeds 127. While this grace period is not officially stated in the legislation of HOPE, it is the policy of the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the state group that administers HOPE.

Hembree said he introduced the bill in an attempt to bring fairness. The bill is not directly aimed at cutting costs for HOPE, and administrators for the scholarship are not sure how much this measure will save. Instead, Hembree said in an address to the House, "This is an issue of fairness. All programs and all HOPE scholars should be equal," according to the AJC.

Andrew Harris, Tech's director of Government Relations, reiterated Clough's letter, saying that the administration does not oppose the bill because with proper planning, students should still be able to have HOPE until they graduate, regardless of major. "Theoretically," Harris said, "you can have HOPE cover 140 credit hours, as long as you plan your last semester."

Many students are already taking advantage of the "grace period" policy.

"I only have one HOPE credit hour left in this semester," said Yoni Pollak, a Mechanical Engineering student, "but I got 12 credit hours paid for by HOPE."

However, Pollak is a transfer student, and the total number of credit hours he attempted while on HOPE exceeds the limits for a Mechanical Engineering degree.

"I do have to pay for four more hours this summer before I graduate," Pollak conceded, "but I think it's pretty fair, compared to my friends who are paying out-of-state tuition."

But Matthew Kuhlke, a fifth-year Electrical and Computer Engineering major, said dropping classes will become a bigger issue with the proposed limits.

"Usually, you only need about 120 hours to graduate. So it seems that they give you the extra 6 or 7 for dropping a class or two, but here at Tech you have 127 or 126 anyways," Kuhlke said.

At Tech especially, dropping classes is common due to the large amounts of course work some classes require, he said.

"When you drop a class, it counts against your HOPE hours, so to get in at 127 you'd pretty much have to not drop a class or drop only one class during your whole time here," Kuhlke added, "I don't think it's very reasonable."

In the end, though, Pollak said, the biggest bane for HOPE recipients at Tech is still the high grade point average requirements.