Georgia Code
Part 7 - Hope Scholarships and Grants
§ 20-3-519.5. Eligibility Requirements for a Hope Grant; Award Amount

shall be eligible for a HOPE grant as long as he or she meets the residency requirements set forth in subsection (a) of Code Section 20-3-519.1 and the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of this Code section. The HOPE grant shall be used to cover the cost of up to 30 degree hours to obtain an associate degree.
(a.1) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this Code section, a student seeking an associate degree at a branch of the Technical College System of Georgia who received a high school diploma pursuant to Code Section 20-2-149.2 through completion of:
(d.1) For each semester or quarter following a semester or quarter that it is determined that a student is a Zell Miller Grant Scholar, a student shall be awarded an amount in addition to the HOPE award amount equal to the difference between the HOPE award amount and the then current academic year standard undergraduate tuition amount at the institution to be paid or the exceptional tuition rate amount in effect on January 1, 2014, for programs with exceptional tuition rates in effect on January 1, 2014. Eligibility to be a Zell Miller Grant Scholar shall be determined on a semester or quarter basis and paid for the next semester or quarter in which a student is enrolled. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Zell Miller Grant Scholar shall also receive one semester or quarter of retroactive payment if the student was not eligible to be a Zell Miller Grant Scholar because he or she had no cumulative grade point average.
(1) A technical college diploma program and all postsecondary academic education and technical education and training prerequisites for any state, national, or industry occupational certifications or licenses required to work in the field; or
(2) At least two technical college certificate of credit programs in one specific career pathway and all postsecondary academic education and technical education and training prerequisites for any state, national, or industry occupational certifications or licenses required to work in the field as determined by the Technical College System of Georgia
History. Code 1981, § 20-3-519.5 , enacted by Ga. L. 1998, p. 626, § 2; Ga. L. 2000, p. 618, § 78; Ga. L. 2004, p. 922, § 7; Ga. L. 2008, p. 335, § 2/SB 435; Ga. L. 2008, p. 759, § 4B/SB 492; Ga. L. 2009, p. 858, § 3/HB 484; Ga. L. 2011, p. 1, § 4/HB 326; Ga. L. 2013, p. 191, § 1/HB 372; Ga. L. 2014, p. 801, § 10/HB 697; Ga. L. 2015, p. 5, § 20/HB 90; Ga. L. 2017, p. 113, § 1/SB 186; Ga. L. 2020, p. 493, § 20/SB 429.
The 2014 amendment, effective July 1, 2014, added subsection (d.1).
The 2015 amendment, effective March 13, 2015, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised language in paragraph (a)(1) and subsection (c).
The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, added subsection (a.1).
The 2020 amendment, effective July 29, 2020, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “No student who” for “No student that” at the beginning of the first sentence of subsection (e).
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2008, in the introductory language of subsection (a), “Georgia” was deleted following “a branch of the”, and in subsection (e), “Technical College System of Georgia” was substituted for “Department of Technical and Adult Education” in the third and fourth sentences (now fourth and fifth sentences).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 2000, p. 618, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘A Plus Education Reform Act of 2000.’ ”
Ga. L. 2011, p. 1, § 17/HB 326, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that the 2011 amendment shall be applicable to postsecondary students beginning in the fall of 2011.