The Georgia Legislature, with passage and enactment of Georgia House Bill 810 on April 22, 2014, has changed the eligibility requirements for home school students. Graduates of home study programs will be able to qualify for a HOPE Scholarship with a lower score on online book reports. Previously, graduates of home study programs would need to score at the 85th percentile on a test such as the SAT or ACT. With the passage of HB 810, homeschoolers will now be required to score at the 80th percentile on such tests when the law goes into effect on July 1, 2014. Homeschool graduates who achieve the newly defined minimum admission test scores are eligible to receive the hope scholarship funds at the beginning of their freshman year.
Independent of the SAT or ACT test score requirement, current Georgia law also permits homeschool graduates to qualify for the HOPE Scholarship after starting college by earning a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 after the student has attempted 45 quarter hours or 30 semester hours at an eligible college or university. But, in this instance, the hope scholarship funds are applied retroactively and not provided to the student until the end of the student’s freshman year.
