HOPE & Zell Miller Scholarships

Description

The HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships are available to qualifying Georgia residents who demonstrate academic achievement. The information provided here is only highlights of the Program Regulations, so please visit www.gafutures.org for complete information.

Process

You can apply for HOPE and the Zell Miller Scholarship in two ways:

Complete the Georgia Scholarship/Grant Application (GSFAPP) at www.gafutures.org. This application only has to be completed once and it remains active for ten years; or
Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) every year.

We recommend that all students complete the GSFAPP even if they are completing the FAFSA so there is always an application on file.

You must have an application on file by the last day of the semester to receive the HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarship for that semester.

If you are attending another HOPE-eligible institution as a transient student, please review the HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship Transient Process section of our website for more information about this process and how to complete the HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship Transient Request.

Amounts

The Zell Miller Scholarship pays the standard undergraduate tuition rate. The initial HOPE Scholarship award amount assumes the maximum amount for which you are eligible each semester. The HOPE award amount will be reduced if you enroll in fewer than 15 hours. HOPE award amounts cannot be increased if you enroll in more than 15 hours. The HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship award amounts cannot exceed your total tuition charges for the semester.

UGA charges a flat rate tuition to undergraduate students. This means that regardless of the number of hours you take each semester, you are charged the same amount if you are enrolled in 1-6 hours and the same amount if you are enrolled in 7 hours or more. That amount does not change if you add or drop courses unless you cross the 6-7 hour threshold. However because the HOPE Scholarship pays per credit hour, the amount of HOPE you can receive does change if you change your schedule. While going through drop/add, if you drop classes you may owe money for tuition after your HOPE amount is changed.

Example: Malik is awarded the HOPE Scholarship. He is enrolled in 14 hours and is assessed $4,895 in tuition. HOPE Scholarship pays the 14 hour rate of $4,568.76, leaving him with a balance of $326.24 which he pays by the tuition and fee deadline. During the drop/add period, he drops a class and is now enrolled in 12 hours. His flat rate tuition charge remains at $4,895 but he is now only eligible for $3,916.08 which is the 12 hour amount of the HOPE Scholarship. He will now be assessed the additional $652.68 to cover the amount of tuition that is not being covered by HOPE.

2023-24 UGA HOPE Award Amounts

Hours of Enrollment	Tuition Charged	Covered by HOPE (2023-2024)	Remaining Balance
15	$4,895.00	$4,895.00	$0.00
14	$4,895.00	$4,568.76	$326.24
13	$4,895.00	$4,242.42	$652.58
12	$4,895.00	$3,916.08	$978.92
11	$4,895.00	$3,589.74	$1,305.26
10	$4,895.00	$3,263.40	$1,631.60
9	$4,895.00	$2,937.06	$1,957.94
8	$4,895.00	$2,610.72	$2,284.28
7	$4,895.00	$2,284.38	$2,610.62
6	$2,909.00	$1,958.04	$950.96
5	$2,909.00	$1,631.70	$1,277.30
4	$2,909.00	$1,305.36	$1,603.64
3	$2,909.00	$979.02	$1,929.98
2	$2,909.00	$652.68	$2,256.32
1	$2,909.00	$326.34	$2,582.66

Basic HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship Eligibility Requirements

You must be a resident of Georgia.
You must be a citizen or eligible non-citizen to receive funding.
You must be in a degree seeking program.
You must be maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress.
You must not be in default or owe repayment on any federal or state aid.
Male students must be registered for Selective Service if required.
You must be in compliance with the Georgia Drug-Free Postsecondary Education Act of 1990.
Once you earn your first Bachelor’s degree you are no longer eligible for the HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarships. Click here for more information.
Initial eligibility for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships is determined by the Georgia Student Finance Commission.

Residency for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships

To meet residency requirements for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships, you must be a resident of Georgia at the time of high school graduation. Students who are not Georgia residents when they graduate high school will not meet residency requirements for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships until 24 months after they establish domicile in Georgia. If that date falls after the start of a semester, the student will not meet residency requirements for the scholarships until the following semester.

Example: Frank graduated from a high school in Texas. His father’s company transferred him to Georgia so the entire family moves to Georgia and establishes domicile on September 2, 2020. Frank is granted in-state residency for tuition purposes by UGA, but he will not meet residency requirements for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships until September 2, 2022 which is 24 months after the date he established domicile. Since that date is after the start of Fall semester, we would not be able to determine his eligibility for the HOPE Scholarship until the following semester, Spring 2023.

Continuing Eligibility

HOPE Scholarship recipients must maintain a 3.00 HOPE GPA. Zell Miller Scholarship Recipients must maintain a 3.30 Zell Miller Scholarship GPA.

If you are otherwise eligible, you can continue to receive the scholarship through 127 HOPE Attempted or Paid hours, whichever comes first.

OSFA checks a student’s HOPE GPA at 30, 60, and 90 attempted hours, as well as every Spring semester. While you can lose HOPE at the Spring semester checkpoint, you can only regain eligibility at the 30, 60, and 90 attempted hours benchmarks.

A HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarship recipient who has lost their Scholarship eligibility at two checkpoints cannot regain eligibility.

So what counts in your HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship Attempted Hours and GPA?

Counts in Attempted Hours and GPA	Does NOT count in Attempted Hours and GPA
All hours attempted after high school graduation while in a degree program at a postsecondary institution, including hours taken at out-of-state and foreign schools	Hours taken while in high school such as AP, Joint Enrollment, IB, and Dual Enrollment
Hours taken at prior institutions, even if UGA does not accept the credit and even if HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship did not pay for the courses	Continuing education courses
Courses taken while enrolled in a certificate program if they were ever accepted by any postsecondary institution	Courses taken while enrolled in a certificate program if they were never accepted by any postsecondary institution
Hours from which you withdraw	Hours that you drop during the drop/add period
Courses you repeat, no matter how many times you attempt them.	Learning support classes taken after Fall 2011
Credits earned through military service if they were ever accepted by any postsecondary institution	Credits earned through military service if they were never accepted by any postsecondary institution
Hours that you attempted that were not paid for by HOPE or the Zell Miller Scholarship	Grades earned through tests, examinations, and course challenges
Credits from internships	Credits from Co-Op Programs

Some things to remember about your HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship GPA

You can view your current HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship eligible GPA on www.gafutures.org. Your HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship GPA may be different than your UGA GPA. Login to www.gafutures.org and click “My College HOPE Profile” on the left side menu for a one-page portal where you can see your college GPA for the HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship, view how many hours you have used, check your expiration date for the scholarship program and more. We encourage you to check this site often to ensure that your information is correct and that you are aware of your HOPE/Zell Miller Scholarship GPA to maintain eligibility.
UGA grades on a +/- grading scale but the plusses and minuses do not count in your HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship GPA.
Effective Fall 2017, when calculating the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship postsecondary GPA, an additional weight of 0.5 will be added to grades of B, C, and D for approved degree level science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses taken at an eligible postsecondary institution Fall 2017 or later. You can find a link to the list of approved courses on the STEM Weighted Course Directory. This list changes annually, so be sure to look at the information for the correct year.

Grade Changes and Transfer Credit

The UGA Office of Student Financial Aid will award your HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarship based on the information on file at the time of awarding. If OSFA receives additional information such as new transcripts from other schools or grade changes at UGA that change your eligibility at any time you will be required to repay any HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarship funds you were awarded that you are no longer eligible for.

It is your responsibility to ensure UGA has all of your transcripts in a timely manner.

Example: Lacy attends UGA for two years and has the following attempted hours and GPA:

Fall 2022	15 hours attempted	3.00 HOPE GPA
Spring 2023	12 hours attempted	3.00 HOPE GPA
Fall 2023	15 hours attempted	3.00 HOPE GPA* 30 hour benchmark
Spring 2024	13 hours attempted	3.00 HOPE GPA

Lacy forgets to send her Summer 2022 transcripts from another school to UGA and she finally does so after Spring 2023. OSFA is required to recalculate her GPA and adjust her HOPE award to what it should have been if her transcripts were received in a timely manner

Fall 2022	15 hours attempted	3.00 HOPE GPA
Spring 2023	12 hours attempted	3.00 HOPE GPA
Summer 2023	4 hours attempted	2.97 HOPE GPA *30 hour benchmark
Fall 2023	15 hours attempted	2.97 HOPE GPA
Spring 2024	13 hours attempted	2.97 HOPE GPA

Because of the additional transcripts received, Lacy’s 30 hour benchmark moved and she no longer has the required 3.00 HOPE Scholarship GPA. She must now repay the HOPE Scholarship funds she received for Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 because she is not eligible.

STEM Courses and the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships

Effective Fall 2017, when calculating the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship postsecondary GPA, an additional weight of 0.5 will be added to grades of B, C, and D for approved degree level science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses taken at an eligible postsecondary institution Fall 2017 or later. Please visit STEM Courses and the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships for more information and for a link to the list of courses approved to receive the additional weight.

Second Degrees, Double Majors, and Dual Degrees – Double Dawgs

Eligibility for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships ends once the student meets the requirements to graduate from the first undergraduate degree program. More information on Second Degrees, Double Majors, and Dual Degrees – Double Dawgs can be found here.

Expiration Date for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships

Eligibility for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships expires 10 years after the student’s high school graduation date for students who receive their first disbursement of the scholarship Summer semester 2019 or later.

Eligibility for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships expires 7 years after the student’s high school graduation date for students who received their first disbursement of the scholarship Summer semester 2011 through Spring semester 2019.

Eligibility for students who received their first disbursement of the HOPE Scholarship Spring semester 2011 or earlier does not expire.

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