Scholarship Loan

The HOPE Program in the state of Georgia sponsors a scholarship loan for individuals and teachers who wish to pursue a master's degree or a doctorate in any field that is considered to have a critical shortage of teachers. The HOPE Teacher Scholarship Loan for Graduate Study in Critical Shortage Fields is offered to any eligible individual who already has at least a bachelor's degree.

The scholarship is for legal Georgia residents who are in graduate school and registered in a teacher education program. Applicants should be studying in one of the critical shortage fields with the objective of receiving teacher certification and to also earn an advanced degree. The Hope Teacher Scholarship Loan is available for graduate students, regardless of whether or not they have ever been teachers, but they are required to currently have either a bachelor's degree or a master's degree. Prospective students should verify which fields have critical shortages when they apply for the scholarship loan: depending on the number of vacancies in teaching, fields may be added or removed from the critical shortage list.

The amount of the scholarship is $125 for each credit hour for students in public colleges and universities, and $200 per credit hour for those attending private institutions. The funds cover as many credits as needed to complete the teacher education program and are paid directly to the school each semester. Since this is a scholarship loan, the students must repay their scholarship by working as teachers in the critical field that they studied. Teaching for one school year is equivalent to paying back $2,500 of the scholarship loan.

The HOPE Scholarship Loan is awarded to about 1,200 students each year, and is given out on a first come, first serve basis to qualified individuals.