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HOPE Scholarship and HOPE Grant Administrative Reviews and Exceptions

Administrative Reviews

If a student feels that his or her HOPE Scholarship or HOPE Grant eligibility was determined incorrectly, he or she may submit a request to GSFC for an Administrative Review. Upon request of an Administrative Review, Commission staff will review a student's eligibility determination and decide if the HOPE program laws, regulations, policies, and rules were applied correctly to a student's specific case.

Students must submit a written letter requesting an Administrative Review and any pertinent and supporting documentation, such as all transcripts, within 45 days of receiving notice of denial for the HOPE Scholarship or HOPE Grant. The Commission will decide a case based solely upon the documentation provided by the student, rather than a personal presentation.

Exceptions

A student who fails to meet the regulatory requirements for the HOPE Scholarship or HOPE Grant program may, in very limited and exceptional cases, be eligible to request an Exception from such regulations, if the student meets specific criteria. All Exception requests must be approved by the GSFC Board of Commissioners, which has sole discretion to grant an Exception. No student has the right to a HOPE Scholarship award based upon the request of an Exception and no student has the right to appeal the denial of an Exception by the Board of Commissioners. The Board of Commissioner's decision is final.

Students seeking an Exception must submit the application and all supporting documentation within 45 days of receiving notice of denial for the HOPE Scholarship or HOPE Grant. Incomplete submissions will be denied. Applications and documentation must be received by GSFC by the deadline dates below in order to be presented to the Board of Commissioners at the corresponding Board Meeting.

Exceptions approved and granted by the Board of Commissioners shall only provide for the forgiveness of post-secondary Attempted-Hours and/or Paid-Hours, thereby increasing the total number of remaining Attempted-Hours and/or Paid-Hours of HOPE eligibility. In no case or circumstance shall a student's high school or post-secondary grade(s), as determined by the student's high school and/or post-secondary institution, be forgiven or altered.

Applications for an Exception will automatically be denied for any one of the following reasons:

1. If it is mathematically impossible for the student to have the required 3.0 Postsecondary Cumulative GPA at the new 30, 60, or 90 semester hour (45, 90, or 135 quarter hour) HOPE Scholarship Checkpoint after the Attempted-Hours and/or Paid-Hours are forgiven.
2. If the student does not submit the Exception Application in writing within 45 days of receiving notice of ineligibility for the HOPE Scholarship.
3. If the request is based upon the diagnosis or presence of a learning disability.
4. If the request is based upon a situation in which the student was convicted or plead guilty or nolo contendere to a criminal act or charge.
5. If the student is requesting that post-secondary or high school grades be forgiven or altered.
6. If the request is based upon any reason other than those specifically listed under the Approval Criteria.
7. If the request is seeking an Exception from the laws governing the HOPE Programs.

Approval Criteria

Georgia Student Finance Commission staff shall classify each request for an Exception based on the information presented. Final approval or denial of an Exception request is subject to the Board's sole discretion. You may be eligible for an Exception if you answer "Yes" to any one of the following questions:

1. Did you reach a HOPE Scholarship checkpoint and lose eligibility because you did not yet earn a cumulative post-secondary grade point average?

2. Did you completely withdraw from all courses during a term due to a Serious Illness, Psychiatric Disorder requiring pharmacological treatment, Serious Injury, or death in your Immediate Family, and you lost HOPE eligibility due to reaching the maximum number of Attempted and/or Paid HOPE hours, though you remain academically eligible?

3. Did you completely withdraw from all courses during a term because you were required to provide temporary care for an Immediate Family member, and you lost HOPE eligibility due to reaching the maximum number of Attempted and/or Paid HOPE hours, though you remain academically eligible? You must be able to document that no one else was able to provide the care for the Immediate Family member.

4. Did you partially withdraw from a term due to a Serious Illness, Psychiatric Disorder requiring pharmacological treatment, Serious Injury, or death in your Immediate Family, but did not fully withdraw because you were allowed to take "incomplete" grades in your other coursework or because the Eligible Post-secondary Institution required you to withdraw from some courses?

If you answered "Yes" to one of the questions above, you may be eligible for an Exception. Please complete the application found here and submit it with all documentation to:

Georgia Student Finance Commission
Student Aid Services, ATTN: Program Administration
2082 E. Exchange Place
Tucker, GA 30084

If you did not answer "Yes" to one of the questions above, you are not eligible for an Exception. If you need additional assistance, please send an email to Programadmin@gsfc.org.