Georgia students would get up to $2,500 to help finish degrees under new program

ATLANTA - Georgia lawmakers are trying again to help college students who have run out of money, this time focusing on those close to graduating.

Senators are now considering House Bill 1435, which passed the House 171-3 on Tuesday. It would create a program under which public and private colleges and universities could give up $2,500 to students to help them finish school if the students have already completed 80% of the course credits needed for their degrees.

Rep. Chuck Martin, the Alpharetta Republican sponsoring the bill, said that the state has invested in students all the way through K-12 and college, having them drop out for the lack of just a little money is bad for the state and can leave people earning little while mired in student debt. Students who take time off from college are less likely to return and complete their degrees than those who attend continuously.

"A very small sum of money — it could be $600, $800, $1,200 — would help them finish and get on track to earn more and provide for their family and be able to take care some of the debt they have accrued," Martin said. "The only thing worse than graduating college with some debt is not graduating college with some debt."

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Georgia is one of only two states that lack broad need-based financial aid. Advocates have long called for Georgia to do more to help children from less affluent families attend and complete college, even if they don’t qualify for HOPE scholarships. Lawmakers created a need-based financial aid program in 2018, but never allotted any money for it.

Martin is proposing that the state divert $10 million from a student loan program that has high default rates and instead use it to finance grants. That would mean grants for more than 4,000 students statewide.

Students near the end of their college career may have exhausted the time limit on federal Pell Grants for poorer students, which is six years for a four-year degree. Students can also lose their eligibility for the state’s lottery-funded HOPE scholarships if their grades drop. And HOPE awards alone don’t cover the full cost of attendance, even when a student is living at home, typically leaving a gap of $3,000 to $9,000. The University System of Georgia said it had 112,000 students with unmet financial need the last time it counted.

"Most students need a Pell Grant and the HOPE Scholarship and maybe loan money for living expenses in order to to attend," said Doug Tanner, the financial aid director at Valdosta State University. "So this would enable us to benefit students by covering what’s called generally gap funding — that means the difference between what aid they have available and what costs they have."

Tanner said that covering that gap will keep some students in school and prevent others from having to take out unsubsidized loans with higher interest rates. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp allotted $5 million from federal COVID-19 aid last year for such completion grants.

Georgia State University started a grant program in 2011 with private gifts from then-President Mark Becker and others. In 2018, Georgia State issued more than 2,000 grants, ranging from $300 to $2,000. The university says that from 2011 through 2018, 86% of more than 12,000 grant recipients went on to graduate, most within two semesters. One of the secrets to the success of that program is that students don’t have to apply, said Jennifer Lee, senior policy analyst for higher education at the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute. Instead, the institution steps in when it sees a student is on the verge of dropping out.

The $10 million proposed is far from covering the roughly $800 million in unmet need in the university system alone, not counting technical colleges and private schools.

"The completion grant approach is one that says we’re going to prioritize the funds that we have for students who are close to graduation," Lee said. "We just don’t have the amount of funds needed for the unmet need out there."

But it could be a start toward something bigger. Lawmakers would have to review the program in 2025 or it would expire. Martin said that if it performs well, legislators might expand funding and eligibility to cover more people.

To be eligible, a student would have to be a Georgia resident and citizen or permanent resident of the United States. They can’t have defaulted on student loans, have been convicted of a drug crime or be in prison.

"It’s not a lot of money, but you’d be surprised. We’ve heard that that would help people get over the over the finish line."

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