Two weeks ago, my oldest daughter graduated from college. We are so proud her is so many ways – completing, obtaining Summa Cum Laude, finishing in four years, and NO DEBT. College was paid for and there is no lingering debt to be dealt with. Thankfully, this is the same situation for her fiance, although I am not sure of the Summa Cum Laude thing!
Graduation season is here and it brought a very interesting story this week in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Here in Georgia we have what is known as the Hope Scholarship. It was the way to pay for many education needs across the state. One of those was the ability of students to attend college and have a sizable chunk of their tuition paid for – all by those who are mismanaging their money by playing the lottery. Sorry, that is another blog post.
The article shared this:
3.0 GPA is required by graduating seniors to get the Hope Scholarship
60% of seniors qualify
30% keep the scholarship all four years
50% lose the scholarship in the first year
Very few regain the Hope once it was lost
2004 – 24,496 qualified, 10,439 lost the scholarship, and only 972 recovered the scholarship
What is required? Maintaining a 3.0 GPA, simply a B average. Wow! With a 3.0 GPA almost all of a students in-state tuition and non-living expense costs would be covered.
The AJC went on to say that the students who kept the Hope Scholarship “purposely put academics first”.
Do you or your child have a vested interest in his or her education? Who is paying for it?