Eligibility for the HOPE Grant
Basic Eligibility
All HOPE programs require students to meet basic requirements. An eligible student must:
- Meet HOPE's U.S. citizenship or eligible non-citizen requirements;
- Be a legal resident of Georgia;
- Meet enrollment requirements;
- Meet federal Selective Service registration requirements, per Georgia state law. The requirement to register applies to males who were born on or after January 1, 1960, are at least 18, are citizens or eligible non-citizens who came to the United States prior to age 26;
- Meet the Eligible Postsecondary Institution’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy;
- Be in good standing on all student loans or other financial aid programs;
- Be in compliance with the Georgia Drug-Free Postsecondary Education Act of 1990;
- Not have exceeded the maximum award limits for any HOPE program;
- Regardless of the number of HOPE Grant Paid-Hours or Combined-Paid Hours a student has accumulated, such student is ineligible for HOPE Grant payment if he or she has attained a Baccalaureate Degree, at any time, from any postsecondary institution, including the equivalent of a Baccalaureate Degree from a foreign institution as indicated by the foreign academic transcript and/or foreign academic transcript translation.
Program Eligibility
Full-time enrollment in a certificate or diploma program is not required and students are not required to graduate from high school with a specific GPA, however, they must have a 2.0 postsecondary Calculated HOPE GPA, at certain checkpoints, in order to maintain eligibility.
Note:
A student who received a high school diploma (High School Postsecondary Graduation Opportunity Plan) by earning a technical college diploma or two technical college certificates, in one career pathway identified by the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), may be eligible for the HOPE Grant, up to 30 degree hours. The student must be enrolled in an associate degree program at a TCSG institution in order to receive the HOPE Grant. After payment for 30 semester hours, the student is no longer eligible for HOPE Grant while enrolled in a degree level program. The student must then meet the HOPE Scholarship eligibility requirements at the 30 semester hour checkpoint.
