GEORGIA – A state lawmaker wants to amend a law that will expand Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship eligibility to students with minor drug offenses. The current law prohibits students with any criminal convictions from accessing the scholarship.
Going to college can feel like a rite of passage for some Georgians, but for those who can’t afford tuition, it can feel more like a dream than reality.
Recommended Videos
Erica Bell lost her college scholarship after a minor drug offense.
“An R.A. comes in you know, at a party and figures out that we may have smoked, and up and there’s your scholarship it’s gone,” Bell said.
Stories like Erica’s are why her brother, Democratic State Representative Eric Bell, is fighting to change the qualifications of Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship.
“They’re not eligible for instate loans, in-state grants, or to continue their education. And for me coming from a middle to lower-income community, when you have people engaging in survival economics, sometimes the drug trade is the only way to feed their family,” Eric Bell said.
Nationwide data shows an estimated 20,000 students annually lose out on Pell Grants due to drug offenses. Another 30,000 to 40,000 are denied student loans.
Eric Bell said that students are being robbed of a second chance.
“You make one mistake and now you’re not able to attend the school of your dreams which is the University of Georgia...or Georgia State,” Eric Bell said.
He also said the student may not have the same opportunity to succeed as another.
“The world is made of should have, would have, could haves, but we’re talking about where the rubber meets the road. It’s not about being tough on crime, it’s not about being laxed on crime, it’s about being a more compassionate state,” Bell said.
News4JAX reached out to several Republican Georgia lawmakers to get their thoughts on this amended bill. We have not received a response back at the time of publishing this article.