ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A Georgia Senate committee is urging lawmakers to create a statewide need-based scholarship program, saying the rising cost of college is shutting out thousands of students who can’t afford to stay enrolled.

The Senate Study Committee on Higher Education Affordability voted this week to adopt a final report recommending that Georgia establish a comprehensive need-based aid program. Supporters say the state is one of only two in the country without a broad need-based scholarship, even though Georgia students carry some of the highest student loan debt in the nation.

At Georgia State University, student body president James Wilson said the financial strain is visible in classrooms, where many students don’t make it to graduation.

“You see a pretty sharp cutoff from freshman year to senior year,” Wilson said. “You’re not sitting in the same classroom with the same people because so many go through so many different things in life.”

Merit-based aid — such as Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship — rewards academic performance. Need-based aid provides funding to students who can’t afford tuition and living expenses, regardless of grades. While most states fund both types, Georgia devotes nearly all of its grant dollars to merit programs.

The commitee’s chair, Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, said HOPE no longer covers the actual cost of attending college, leaving students with thousands of dollars in unmet financial need.

“A college degree is the passport into better jobs, better income, better life,” Orrock said. “We know now [HOPE] doesn’t get the job done.”

The committee’s report outlines models used in states such as North Carolina and Florida, where need-based aid has helped increase graduation rates and reduce gaps for low-income, rural and first-generation students.

Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania, said he supports expanding assistance for students with financial need but emphasized the importance of finding an approach that fits within the state’s long-term budget.

“At the end of the day, we need to support all students, regardless of their socioeconomic background and their ability to pay,” Burns said.

For students like Blake Robinson — who grew up outside Valdosta and relied on need-based assistance at Georgia Southern University — expanding aid could be transformative for families across the state.

“It means a lot more when my mom can see I’m doing better than she did at my age,” Robinson said. “That’s all she’s ever wanted for me.”

Lawmakers will consider the recommendations when the legislative session begins in January.

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