Bill Makes Chatt Tech More Accessible

Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a bill that will expand access to schools such as Chattahoochee Technical College, which has a campus in Acworth.

House Bill 372 lowers the GPA requirement for the HOPE Grant from a 3.0 to a 2.0. The HOPE Grant goes to students who attend schools in the Technical College System of Georgia.

It was two years ago that the GPA requirement was raised from 2.0 to 3.0 for budgetary reasons.

During that time, “Georgia has seen a large drop in technical college enrollment – much larger than in our University System,” Deal said Wednesday in a statement. “For some students enrolled in a technical school, the loss of scholarship money put higher education out of reach. This law will provide greater access to school and to a brighter career for thousands of Georgians.”

The governor's office said higher lottery revenues will cover the cost of the program.