ATLANTA – More than 80 percent of Georgia public-college students rely on financial aid, prompting the University System of Georgia to decide Wednesday to hire a specialist to raise funds for needs-bases scholarships.
The Board of Regents voted unanimously to create the position as a way to graduate more future workers. None of the regents proposed cutting tuition as a way to make college more affordable.
Instead, regents Chairman Neil Pruitt called on legislators to appropriate more taxpayer funds.
“We’re going to have to have our friends across the street help with this initiative,” he said.
However, veteran lawmakers routinely express frustration that no matter how much they allocate to the University System, the regents still raise tuition and point to neighboring states doing the same as justification.
A task force of administrators looking for ideas to boost graduation rates concluded that even with the use of financial aid in the form of scholarships, loans and grants, there remains $1.2 billion in what they term “unmet need” beyond what students’ families can afford.
Of those getting the HOPE Scholarship, two-thirds lose eligibility after the first year. And the default rate on student loans in Georgia is 11 percent, the task force reported.
“The biggest barrier to having more people with college degrees is paying for college,” said Shelley Nickel, vice chancellor for planning and a member of the task force.
Cost is a prime reason students quit college, and 6,500 who didn’t quit on their own were kicked out last year because they didn’t pay.
“The bottom line: we are losing academically talented students,” said task force member Angela Bell, the system’s director of research and policy analysis.
The University System has a foundation that the regents contribute toward personally and seek donations for from friends. Last year, it awarded $1 million in scholarships.
Hiring a fundraising professional should increase what’s available for scholarships, but the regents set no target figure.
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