GEORGIA – On Tuesday, December 2, the Senate Study Committee on Higher Education Affordability adopted a report that included the following highlights:
- Nationwide, about 74 percent of state grant aid was need-based in 2022-23. By contrast, in Georgia, only around 1 percent of state grant aid was need-based, and 99 percent was merit-based aid, funding programs like the HOPE Scholarship.
- The college affordability crisis does not affect all Georgians equally. Unaffordable costs of attendance particularly restrict access for students from under resourced communities, including Black students, low-income students, first-generation college students, and rural students.
- Georgia is one of two states in the country that does not administer a comprehensive need-based aid program. Georgia should create a comprehensive need-based aid program that provides annual renewable funding for students with demonstrated financial need. The program could be modeled after need-based aid programs in neighboring states such as North Carolina Next or the Florida Student Assistance Grant.
Click here to access the recording of the Senate Study Committee on Higher Education Affordability’s final meeting.
