The state's lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship program has been highly successful, covering most or all of college tuition for more than 2.2 million Georgians since its inception in 1993.
But Georgia lawmakers are considering expanding state aid to public college and university students beyond the merit-based HOPE program to a need-based scholarship initiative. The newly formed state Senate Study Committee on Higher Education Affordability will hold its first meeting on Monday at the state Capitol.
"In my conversations on both sides of the aisle, there's been a recognition that getting more students into college is a must," said Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, who will chair the committee. "[But] we have not turned our attention to need-based support."
"I'm very concerned about the level of debt students come out of college with," added Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania, chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee and a member of the new study panel. "The study committee is designed to explore as many avenues as we can to expand our graduation rates."
The University System of Georgia's six-year graduation rate has increased significantly during the last decade, surpassing 80% for the system as a whole and surging beyond 90% at the system's research universities including the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.
The university system has taken various steps to boost graduation rates. The system has participated in the Complete College America program since 2011.
In 2022, the system launched the website Georgia Degrees Pay to show the value of a degree. The following year saw the start of GEORGIA MATCH, a direct admission program that involves sending letters to high school seniors listing the public universities, colleges and technical colleges they are academically eligible to attend and explaining how to claim a spot being held for them at the institution of their choice.
But Orrock said there remains room for improvement.
"Our workforce shortages are well documented," she said. "More college graduates are a way for our state to attract businesses looking for the skill sets of college graduates."
Georgia and New Hampshire are currently the only states that don't offer a need-based scholarship program in their four-year public colleges and universities. But bringing need-based scholarships to Georgia will have to overcome an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality.
University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue noted that the system's Board of Regents has held the line on tuition for seven of the last 10 years.
Decisions by the General Assembly eliminating the special institutional fees the system began charging students during the Great Recession and restoring the funding cuts to HOPE made during the same economic downturn have helped keep tuition in check, he said.
"We welcome the discussion," Perdue said of the upcoming study committee. "We've got a great story to tell."
"We have some of the highest quality education at the lowest cost in the nation," Burns added. "That's a positive for Georgia."
A key issue shaping the upcoming debate over higher education affordability will be whether the state should focus more on helping deserving high school students who can't afford college gain access to postsecondary education or on students who are nearing a degree but struggling to pay for the final credits they need to graduate.
Orrock said high school counselors have told lawmakers that some high-achieving high school students are not enrolling in college because their families can't afford it. While the GEORGIA MATCH program has helped, she said many students receiving letters informing them of university system institutions they are qualified to attend don't end up enrolling.
Orrock said the late Hank Huckaby, who as a senior staff member helped then-Gov. Zell Miller launch HOPE and later served as university system chancellor, was a proponent of need-based scholarships.
"He said, 'If you want the biggest game changer to make your workforce, economy, and families thrive, it's need-based,' " she said.
But state Rep. Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta, chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, said giving a financial boost to college students nearing a degree is more important. Martin was the lead sponsor of legislation the General Assembly passed in 2022 offering students who have earned at least 80% of the credits required for their college degree grants of up to $2,500 to help pay their tuition.
"If you want to start a need-based scholarship, you start at the end," he said. "At that point, students have proven they can do the work."
Another factor lawmakers will have to consider is the cost to Georgia taxpayers of launching a need-based scholarship program.
The HOPE program is currently running a surplus of $1.6 billion, according to the resolution that created the study committee. But Martin said the legislature shouldn't put those funds toward need-based scholarships without careful consideration.
"Just because there's money doesn't mean you spend it," he said. "We shouldn't put any new program in because we happen to have a surplus in the lottery or otherwise."
While Martin and other conservative Republicans are wary of the potential fiscal impact of offering need-based scholarships, Orrock said there's been GOP buy-in to at least giving the idea serious consideration.
Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who presides over the state Senate, got behind Orrock's resolution to form the study committee and appointed the Democrat to chair the effort, a rare opportunity in the legislature for a member of the minority party.
"There's interest in it by leadership," Orrock said. "If we can put together a good-faith grant program, it will be win-win for Georgia and a win-win for bipartisanship."