A Brief History of HOPE By: Jennifer Lee, Senior Policy Analyst, and Allie Schneider, Southern Education Foundation Policy Fellow HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) is Georgia’s best-known state financial aid program. Funded by the Georgia Lottery, it has provided college scholarships and grants to almost 2 million public, private and technical college students in Georgia during the more than 25 years since its inception in 1993. Over time, lawmakers have modified eligibility requirements, award amounts and rules that affect who can access the scholarships and grants that make college more accessible and affordable for students across the state. Among its successes, HOPE has enticed many Georgians to stay instate for college and promoted college preparation in high school, but it has also reflected patterns of inequality by race, ethnicity, income and geography. Lawmakers must balance questions of effectiveness, equity and sustainability as they adapt HOPE to serve Georgia’s evolving needs.
Birth of HOPE The new Georgia Lottery, which will provide a stream of revenue to public education for years to come, is established. While the scholarship has no income cap today, HOPE was founded as a need-based scholarship for high school students in good academic standing.
1991 – Georgia General Assembly passes an amendment to the State Constitution designating lottery revenue to be used entirely for educational purposes.1 1992 – Voters ratify the amendment, allowing for the creation of the Georgia Lottery through the Lottery for Education Act.2 1993 – The first lottery ticket is sold in June, and the first HOPE scholarships are awarded in September. At its inception, the scholarship awarded two years of full tuition to students who graduated high school with a B average and had a family income of less than $66,000 per year.3