According to Ty Tagami's recent report for Capitol Beat, a taxpayer-funded college scholarship based on financial need rather than academic merit is now closer to becoming a reality in Georgia now that a Senate committee approved the bipartisan measure. As Tagami explains, House Bill 1413 passed the Senate Higher Education Committee unanimously after three other bills were merged with it. According to Tagami, the bill puts the Georgia Student Finance Authority in control of the fund, with $325 million in seed money already allocated in the amended budget for the current fiscal year. “I want you to know how important the DREAM scholarship is for our state. And I want you to know how excited I am for the DREAM scholarship to be implementable,” committee chairman Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania, said after the vote. The bill advanced after several hearings wherein experts testified about a relatively high dropout rate among students from low-income households. These students often work to get through college, taking time away from their academic pursuits. When their GPAs fall below the threshold for the HOPE scholarship, many leave college.
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