Need-based scholarships to priority in capital campaign, says UGA president Morehead

Need-based scholarships will be the number one priority when the University of Georgia announces the "public" phase of its ongoing capital campaign, according to University of Georgia president Jere Morehead.

Colleges typically announce the "public" phase of a fund-raising campaign about halfway through, naming an achievable goal. That goal hasn't been announced, but should be soon: UGA officials intend to announce the public phase of the eight-year campaign in November.

Morehead said earlier the goal would be more than $1 billion, which appears to be easily achievable. That's an average of $125 million per year. UGA fund-raisers pulled in a record $183.8 million in gifts and pledges last year. The year before, UGA announced a $144.2 million total, which was also a record.

Morehead didn't name a figure when he tabbed need-based scholarships the top priority at a Wednesday press conference.

But such scholarships are sorely needed, according to some recent studies.

At UGA, one in four students qualify for the need-based federal Pell Grant; at Georgia State University, more than half do, analyst Claire Suggs found when she examined financial aid data from the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia.

The Pell Grant often isn't enough to cover the gap between students' financial resources and what they have to pay for college — for many, even when they also get the state's lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship, she found. The HOPE Scholarship covers most of a student's tuition, but not fees, not books, nor other living expenses such as room and board.

Low-income and minority students are less likely to have a HOPE Scholarship, she found. Low-income students can face challenges hanging on to it, as well — working at jobs that pay the bills but cut into time that might otherwise be used for study.

The state's public colleges awarded about $29 million for need-based scholarships in 2013-14. But the need is much larger, $660 million as of that year, Suggs calculated.

The average student graduated with $23,000 to $25,000 in debt that year, according to Suggs' study.

About 97,000 students in the university system could not cover the full cost of going to college in Georgia in 2013-2014, even with scholarships, grants and a $5,500 low-interest loan, she wrote.

About 13,000 had to leave their studies between fall 2014 and 2015 because they couldn't pay tuition and fees, according to the study.

Follow reporter Lee Shearer at www.facebook.com/LeeShearerABH or https://twitter.com/LeeShearer.

Source: Need-based scholarships to priority in capital campaign, says UGA president Morehead