Photo by Jade Johnson | The Signal
The proposed hike in grades from House Bill 801 (HB 801), however, would only be applied to STEM courses, classes which focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
HB 801 swept through a House vote on Feb. 3 with 167-0 count in favor of the grade-booster bill, which would tack on an additional 0.5 points to each B, C, or D in STEM classes on the 4.0 GPA scale.
The bill’s author, House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, said this legislation was crafted with aspirations of broadening the state’s technology workforce, which could help mend Georgia’s struggling healthcare system by keeping more students in medical and technical studies.
“Of the top 15 fields that we have a workforce shortage in Georgia that require a four-year post graduate degree, 10 are in healthcare. and 5 are in engineering and computer science,” she said.
And although Jones said this legislation was not authored to appeal specifically to Georgia Tech students, if passed, HB 801 could curb some complaints from Yellow Jacket students that are leaving STEM majors because they couldn’t uphold grades to HOPE scholarship specs.
“Contrary to what’s been reported in the AJC, this is not a Georgia Tech bill,” she said. “I specifically fashioned it so that students attending all 29 state public colleges and 25 private colleges would have the opportunity to benefit from this.”
One Georgia State researcher’s recent findings suggest that the introduction of the HOPE scholarship offerings — and those of other merit-based aid — have contributed to the decrease in Georgia’s STEM field graduates.
“We find significant evidence that HOPE reduced the likelihood that a young person earned a degree in a STEM field,” said Professor David Sjoquist in his study on HOPE’s impact on student futures. “It’s at the time of graduation, that’s when you see the big decline [in STEM focus].”
Georgia State Dean of Students Darryl Holloman told The Signal he hasn’t noticed a pattern of science and tech students leaving their majors due to academic issues, but he’s witnessed a few students succumb to the pressure of those “rigorous” courses.
“I remember years ago when I was an academic advisor, and I was advising a student who could not pass biology,” he said. “She’d taken it like six or seven times, not passing and sometimes having to withdraw.”
No gamble with HB 677
Meanwhile, Georgia politicos have also been battling over the fate of HB 677, legislation which seeks to welcome six casino resorts to the state while broadening gambling laws. Sponsors claim, if enacted, the Georgia Lottery Corporation — which funds the HOPE scholarship — could rake in hundreds of millions of dollars in state education funding.
But Jones said there’s no relationship between the two. There could be a change in the amount of HOPE recipients, she told The Signal, but HB 801’s success is not contingent upon a funding bump from casino taxes.
“There will be a slight shift in maybe who keeps HOPE, but that’s theoretical because there will be students who weren’t going to take a [STEM courses] without the GPA boost.
“What [HB 801] is doing is refining and targeting our lottery dollars to areas that will best benefit the state because we have workforce shortages, which could be a modest factor in helping us attract more high-tech companies to locate and expand in the state if we can increase our workforce pipeline,” she said.
However, the bill contains no language to incentivize STEM grads to stay in-state. Jones said ‘no problem.’
“The vast majority of in-state students do stay in Georgia,” she said. “If you’re at Valdosta State as a chemistry major or a nursing major, some of your courses qualify for this, and students who go to college there oftentimes settle there.”
Plus, Holloman said, the metro Atlanta culture of Georgia State gives students a competitive advantage against other job hunters, which could prompt them to stick around town after graduation.
“Our institution gives our students a leg up because they are immersed in such a diverse college experience,” he said.
Julie Yoon, a Georgia State math major, lost her HOPE funding during her second semester when her GPA fell victim to the rigors of her course load. She said she believes that the bill could pull some students from STEM-induced academic ruts.
“I think [the potential changes in HOPE] are positive,” she said. “I think the reason a lot of people drop out of harder classes is because they don’t want to lose HOPE because college is really expensive in the first place.”
Chewy Rupani, a Georgia State econ major, previously majored in Computer Science. Although he’s been able to maintain the grades requirements, he’s been subject to watch his friends flunk out of STEM studies.
“A lot of my friends dropped out after the first semester because they made F’s in the first CS class,” Rupani stated.
Rupani said that he thinks this bill could help his computer science friends.
“I think it is positive because it will help people pass the class and probably encourage more people to take STEM classes,” he said.
Staff Reporter Alyssa Davis contributed reporting for this article.
