The short answer is No based on Georgia Code Title 20, Chapter 3, Article 7. This legislation formalized
in 2010 dictates the eligibility requirements for a Hope Scholarship at a post-secondary institution.
According to the legislation, to be eligible for a Hope Scholarship, a new freshman student seeking an associate
or bachelor’s degree shall:
1) Meet residency requirements for the State of Georgia (for the Georgia Hope Scholarship)
2) Meet achievement standards. These are merit based GPA and/or standardized test scores.
3) Meet enrollment standards. These are set by the institution which the student will attend.
Item #1, “meet residency requirements” provides that the student must be a legal resident of Georgia and defines what this means.
Item #2, “meet achievement standards” provides that the student must meet minimum GPA requirements and defines the methods used to calculate the valid GPA score for the standard.
Item #3, “meet enrollment standards” provides the required standards for being admitted, enrolled, and classified as an undergraduate student in a matriculated status and defines what this means.
These are, in total, the top level eligibility requirements to receive a hope scholarship. You will note that none of these
requirements mention financial standing of the family, income limits, other scholarships/grants/aid received, or any other indicators relating to income or finances. In fact, unless the institution that you are attending requires it, you do not have to complete a FASFA application because it is not based on financial standing. Please make sure you check with the admission and aid requirements for your college or university so that you are following the application procedures correctly.
So, for the question “Is there a family income cap to receive the hope scholarship?”, both the short and the long answer is, No. Since this is a merit based scholarship, the student must maintain a commitment to scholarship throughout his or her high school career starting with the Freshman year and throughout all of high school.
