House Bill 1091

Chair's Name: Bill Hembree

Committee: Higher Education

House Sponsor: Bill Hembree

HB 1091 addresses eligibility for in-state tuition and HOPE scholarships. Section 1 strikes current in-state tuition provisions and adds definitions of “dependent student”, “independent student”, and “emancipated”. To be classified as “in-state”, an independent student must give clear evidence of domicile for a period of at least 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the first day of classes for the term. A dependent student’s parents must have established and maintained domicile in Georgia for at least 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the first day of classes for the term and the student graduated from a high school in this state. If the dependent student has a court-appointed guardian, the same domicile requirements apply to the guardian, for the student to qualify as in-state, though the guardianship appointment cannot have been for the purposes of avoiding out-of-state tuition. There are also provisions relating to Noncitizen students.

Section 2 addresses eligibility for the HOPE scholarship for public postsecondary institutions. Section 3 addresses eligibility for private postsecondary institutions.

This bill comes to the Floor under the Open Rule.

Chairman Hembree’s Opinion of the legislation:

There has not been consistency within the BOR and USG institutions on the definition and documentation required for residency in regards to in-state tuition.  A state audit revealed that of a sample of student 21% were receiving in-state tuition in error. However, HB 1091 would redefine residency for Georgia colleges and universities.  This bill also requires that a student graduate from an eligible high school in Georgia or a home study program in Georgia before that student can be eligible for a HOPE scholarship or grant, whether applying freshman, sophomore, junior or senior year.