Despite losing more than 50 positions over the last two years, the state agency that oversees the HOPE scholarship has seen its budget grow to more than $7.7 million. It's projected to grow by hundreds of thousands of dollars next year, even as lawmakers target other state agencies for cuts.
This spending boost for the Georgia Student Finance Commission comes at a time when students and families face shrinking scholarships, with worse to come according to new projections. Money from the Georgia Lottery pays for the scholarship. It also pays for the commission's administrative budget.
Some lawmakers question the commission's administrative costs and its use of state vehicles. The agency had two state cars last year, but increased to nine this year. Gov. Nathan Deal's proposed budget calls for the commission to keep all of them next year. Both expenses are expected to come under review again today when the House and Senate higher education committees meet to discuss HOPE.
The review comes as lawmakers start to see the impact of last year's HOPE reforms, when they and Deal reduced award payouts and implemented other changes to keep the program from going broke. They aren't happy, according to Republicans and Democrats alike. Colleagues on both sides of the aisle audibly gasped two weeks ago when the commission released figures showing scholarship payouts will drop even more starting in mid-2013.
Lottery revenue, while bringing in billions of dollars since it began in 1993, can't keep up with soaring enrollment and tuition. More than 256,000 students received a HOPE benefit last year, while fewer than 200,000 received it a decade ago.
Sen. Jason Carter, D-Decatur, and other Democrats have begun a push to undo many of last year's Republican-led changes. Carter said last year's reforms are a failure because they did not force HOPE to live within its means. This week, he proposed several changes including a cap on family income for students to be eligible for HOPE, starting at $140,000. A cap existed when the program began, but was quickly lifted after the lottery proved financially successful.
Carter and others have also questioned the size of the commission's staff, given that their funding could otherwise be spent to help college students afford school.
The increase in administrative costs is primarily due to statewide budget changes, said Deal spokesman Brian Robinson, including programs once federally funded that the state now covers. Robinson and officials with the finance commission said the costs also include state support for GAcollege411.org, a one-stop website that provides information about colleges and financial aid to students and their families.
Administrative expenses cost less than 1 percent of the commission's total budget, said Commission President Tim Connell. Additionally, 20 percent of the administrative budget goes not to staff but instead pays for licensing fees to support GAcollege411. The other 80 percent pays for salaries and operating expenses, including an office building in Tucker. Five or six years ago, the commission had about 195 employees. Today, it has about 135. Of them, 26 are paid fully by state funds, not lottery revenue.
The commission asked to maintain its current administrative budget at about $7.7 million for next year. Deal, however, has recommended it increase to $7.9 million.
"I don’t think the bad guys here are the Georgia Student Finance Commission," Carter said.
Providing employees with cars costs about two-thirds less than what the commission was spending on mileage reimbursements, said Tracy Ireland, director of the commission's post-secondary student and school services. Some staff work in remote areas of the state and need the cars to visit high schools, colleges and other locations to teach students and their families about applying for college and different financial aid options, Ireland said.
Republicans, including state Sen. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, said this week that they are open to tweaking the overall HOPE program despite the changes last year. But so far, their concern lies more with award payouts to students than the in-and-outs of the program's operations. Carter, as chairman of the Senate higher education committee, said he views meetings like the one today as fact-finding missions.
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