Georgia House panel advances bill to increase grant access for state college and tech students

A pedestrian walks through the Georgia Tech campus as the downtown skyline stands in the background Friday, March 11, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

More Georgia’s college and technical students may soon be eligible for grant money to help them complete their degree after a mathematical oversight made it impossible for many to qualify. A House committee unanimously passed a bill aimed at correcting the oversight Wednesday.

The Georgia College Completion Grant, signed into law in 2022, aims to help students who are close to graduation but are low on money. Students can be eligible for up to $2,500, and the total cost for the state is capped at $10 million, with unused funds rolling over to the next year. In the state’s 2024 fiscal year, 10,069 college students received a total of $10.9 million through the grants.

To qualify, students must have completed at least 80% of the credit requirements for their course of study, and that’s where the math problem comes in, said Georgia Student Finance Commission President Lynne Riley.

The requirement made it impossible for most Technical College System of Georgia students to take advantage of the grants.