"make money" off this suggested allocation process, but that it would allow
students to take out a fewer amount of loans to cover the remaining other
costs of school.
Whereas,
It is also important to note that the Hope Scholarship has moved from a
mix of financial need/merit based fund to solely merit based fund. In its
inception the Hope Scholarship had a $66,000 income cap for the parents
of the student. That cap has since been removed, leaving the Hope
Scholarship as a purely merit based scholarship. Because the Hope
Scholarship can now be categorized as merit based scholarship, we feel
that it is improper to consider financial need when allotting these funds.
Someone receiving their Pell funds should not have their Hope funds cut,
if they meet the scholarship criterion. It is also important to note that the
Hope Scholarship has expanded greatly to the benefit of those from the
upper level, yet no expansion has been made to the lower income levels,
such as those that receive Pell. These Pell funds, in essence, will go to
the necessary living expenses to attend school, such as room and board.
Whereas,
lastly we realize that the Hope Scholarship has grown at an alarming rate.
It has been forecast that at some point there is a fear that the funds which
hope doles out may exceed the funds which it receives from the state's
lottery. For this reason we feel that another expansion may not be in the
best interest of this program. However, some form of restructuring in the
Hope Scholarship would be welcomed to accommodate our request. In
the present system, all a student must have is a "B" average coming out
of high school. One area for restructuring could be to alter the scholarship
requirement to a "B" average in core classes - english, social sciences,
math, and natural sciences. Hopefully some change in the present
system can be devised so as to free up funds for this needed and
important expansion.
SGA (08-"5
BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
The Student Government Association endorses the restructuring of the particular
system of allocating the Hope Scholarship Funds in conjunction with the Federal Pell
Grant Funds with the understanding that students would then be able to receive the two
allotments in full only up until their established living expenses, according to their
prospective institutions, are covered.