Hope Scholarship and Dual Enrollment Courses
As a result of recently passed legislation (House Bill 131) during the 2013 Legislative Session,
dual enrollment courses taken at an eligible postsecondary institution after July 1, 2013 will now
be weighted in the calculation of a student’s grade point average (GPA) for the purpose of
determining eligibility for the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships. Dual enrollment coursework in
the core content areas of English, mathematics, social studies, science, and foreign language,
will be weighted the same as Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB)
coursework.
How will GSFC know which courses are dual enrollment courses?
Public high schools currently report transcript data using the Georgia Department of Education’s (GA DOE) course numbering system as detailed in the State Board of Education (SBOE) Rule 160-4-2-.20 IDA(3) (a listing of state-funded subjects for kindergarten through eighth grade and courses for grades 9-12). GA DOE uses a nine digit numbering system (two digits to the left of the decimal and seven digits to the right) to identify coursework. For more than ten years, GA DOE has required schools to identify dual enrollment courses by coding the fifth digit to the right of the decimal as a “4” (p. 7-8 of the SBOE Rule 160-4-2-.20 IDA(3)). Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC) currently identifies core coursework through the GA DOE numbering system and will continue to use it to identify dual enrollment coursework in core content areas. Therefore, coding the fifth digit to the right of the decimal as a “4” will indicate the attempted credit was in a dual enrollment course and the student’s grade will receive additional weight. No additional information or coding is required.
Private high schools will now be required to identify dual enrollment courses through the use of
the weighting indicator “D,” not through the GA DOE course number. Each private high school
must include the weighting indicator “D” in order for dual enrollment courses to receive the
same weighting as AP and IB coursework in core content areas. In addition, if the private high
school adds numeric weighting to the student’s grade appearing on the transcript, the points or
percentage added must be defined in the school’s profile for the weighting indicator “D.” If no
points are added, the “D” weighting indicator should be defined as “0.”
How much weight will be added to dual enrollment courses?
Dual enrollment coursework in core content areas will receive an additional weight of 0.5 after
the grade given by the school is un-weighted (if applicable) and converted to a number on a 4.0
scale (A=4; B=3; C=2; D=1; F=0) using the school’s own numeric to letter grade conversion
method. The maximum grade on a 4.0 scale is 4.0; therefore, if a student’s un-weighted grade is
4.0 no additional weight will be added as the maximum is already met.
