HOPE Scholarship changes have minimal effect on ASU students

Expected changes to the HOPE Scholarship would limit funds for students in extended-hour majors but will have little effect on ASU students, officials say. The proposed bill would eliminate the exception for students whose degree programs require more than the allowed 127 hours. Under the current HOPE rules, those students are funded through 150 hours.

At ASU the change would likely only affect secondary education majors because they essentially have to double major. A degree in secondary education requires 134 hours.

“Those students have to fulfill the Area F core requirements for two areas,” says Dr. Richard Harrison, associate dean of the College of Education. “For example, someone majoring in math education has to take the curriculum in Area F for math and for education. That breaks down to three courses that are different between the two areas.”

However, Dr. Harrison says that the impact on students in ASU’s College of Education won’t be great because tuition rates stay the same once students reach full-time status. What that means is that the cost of tuition doesn’t increase after students enroll for 12 hours – HOPE would pay the same amount if a student took 15 or 18 hours.

“Most of our students do that already,” Dr. Harrison says. “I haven’t seen the details but it doesn’t seem that education majors will be affected.”

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