Perdue wants SAT to be included in HOPE

In his State of the State address on Jan. 14, Governor Sonny Perdue outlined his plans and recommendations for several issues throughout the coming year.
“We have big challenges before us, but I have no doubt that, together, we Georgians are more than a match for the challenges that we face,” said Gov. Perdue in a press release. Among the areas discussed in the address was the HOPE Scholarship program. Gov. Perdue announced his passion for continuing the program. He assured Georgians that the HOPE Scholarship will be around for a long time.
“The HOPE Scholarship is and always has been about rewarding academic scholarship. Georgia must improve its SAT scores. I think that we should include an SAT component to HOPE eligibility,” said Perdue.
Since 1993, the Georgia Lottery has been supplying millions of dollars to students across the state of Georgia. State officials have said that the sales of lottery tickets will soon be lower than the funds needed to pay for HOPE.
Making SAT scores a part of the Hope Scholarship eligibility requirements stems from the fact that Georgia is ranked 50th in the nation this year in average SAT scores. Purdue said students would possibly do better on the SAT if there was an added incentive in receiving the HOPE Scholarship.
Dr. Dorothy Leland, president of Georgia College & State University, says that on several occasions, the governor has suggested linking the SAT to the HOPE Scholarship.
“The governor has spoken on several occasions since the first of the year about linking HOPE to SAT scores. He has also accepted a number of recommendations from special commissions to limit what HOPE covers to strictly tuition, excluding fees and books,” said Leland.
According to the University of Georgia, GC&SU has received $40.1 million in the past decade from the Georgia Lottery for tuition. The University of Georgia has received $400 million in the last ten years. These numbers may gradually decline should the requirement change.
“Something has to be done about HOPE because it is going bankrupt. I think there will be a lot of back and forth during the future legislative session about exactly what should be done,” said Leland.
The HOPE Study Commission will continue to work on the requirements regarding the HOPE Scholarship.
“Georgia must improve its SAT scores,” said Perdue. “I am not satisfied with 50th place. I believe that linking the SAT to HOPE will motivate students to take the test seriously and will lead to better preparation for college.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 16 2004. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry