What the numbers say
In Georgia, the scholarship that matters starts at a GPA of 3.0
Georgia pays most of the tuition at its public universities for students with good grades. It does this through two scholarships. HOPE needs a GPA of 3.0. Zell Miller needs a GPA of 3.7 and a 1200 on the SAT, and it pays all of the tuition. HOPE pays nearly as much. So in Georgia, the grade that decides most of the money is the 3.0, not the 3.7.
“Graduate with a minimum 3.0 calculated HOPE GPA. Earn a minimum of four full rigor credits from the Academic Rigor Course List.”
“Graduate with a minimum 3.7 calculated HOPE GPA. Earn a minimum of four full rigor credits from the Academic Rigor Course List.”
In dollars, the higher bar adds little. At the University of Georgia (UGA) in 2026-27, HOPE pays $5,017 a semester and Zell Miller pays $5,067. That is $50 apart. At the 21 universities in this guide, Zell Miller adds between $15 and $53 a semester.
“receive a HOPE Scholarship award amount, to be applied toward standard undergraduate tuition, up to a maximum of 15 hours”
To measure what each grade is worth, we priced the same families three ways at all 21 universities: with HOPE, with Zell Miller, and with neither. We used the same calculations that build our payment plans.
Figures projected to 2027 entry and recomputed every time this page is built, so they track current costs, federal loan rates and tax rules. The award amounts are the Georgia Student Finance Commission's for 2026-27, carried forward at the rate we project tuition to rise. Shares and medians describe our scenario grid — an evenly spaced sweep of incomes and savings levels — not the distribution of actual families.
What a 3.0 is worth
We compared each family with HOPE against the same family without it: same university, same income, same savings. For families earning $125,000 or $200,000, HOPE saved a median of $25,216 over four years: half saved more, half less. The saving ranged from $9,722 to $79,080, depending on the university and how much the family had saved. HOPE can save more than it pays, because a family that would have borrowed the tuition also avoids the interest. Zell Miller saved a median of only $244 more, and never more than $720.
HOPE saves the most where tuition is highest: a median of $64,817 at Georgia Tech, and $13,472 at Dalton State College, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Gordon State College.
We priced each family at the full cost of attendance less the scholarship, with no need-based aid. That matches the prices these universities report for families earning $125,000 or $200,000. At $75,000, families at 20 of the 21 universities pay less than that on average, after all grants, so many of them get need-based aid too. A university may give less of its own aid to a student who has HOPE. So at $75,000, what HOPE saves depends on the school. Ask the university's aid office how HOPE would change your aid.
Won in high school, kept in college
Both scholarships are settled before college starts. Georgia recalculates the student's GPA from the high school transcript. HOPE also needs four courses from Georgia's Academic Rigor Course List. For Zell Miller, the test score must come from a single sitting before graduation. A named valedictorian or salutatorian qualifies for Zell Miller with a GPA of 3.0.
“Earn a qualifying test score on a single national or state/district administration of the ACT or single national administration of the SAT prior to high school graduation.”
“Graduate as the named (Zell Miller Scholarship) Valedictorian or Salutatorian of his or her graduating class. Graduate with a minimum 3.0 calculated HOPE GPA”
Then the scholarship has to be kept. UGA's aid office sets out the rules. A student keeps HOPE with a college GPA of 3.0, and keeps Zell Miller with a 3.3. The GPA is checked at 30, 60 and 90 attempted hours, and every spring. A student who loses the scholarship at two checkpoints cannot get it back.
“HOPE Scholarship recipients must maintain a 3.00 HOPE GPA.”
“Zell Miller Scholarship Recipients must maintain a 3.30 Zell Miller Scholarship GPA.”
“OSFA checks a student’s HOPE GPA at 30, 60, and 90 attempted hours, as well as every Spring semester.”
“A HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarship recipient who has lost their Scholarship eligibility at two checkpoints cannot regain eligibility.”
A student who loses HOPE after two years pays the tuition it would have covered. At UGA that is about $22,257 over the last two years. Where HOPE pays least, it is about $7,253.
Without the award, the plan matters more
The award changes more than the price. Families earning $125,000 or $200,000 paid a median of $65,649 over four years with HOPE and $93,663 without it. With HOPE, 66 percent of those families never borrowed. Without it, 44 percent never borrowed.
For the families on our grid without HOPE, a good plan saved a median of $6,960 over four years. Of all the savings, 64 percent was interest the family never paid, from spending savings in the order that costs least and starting loans later. The rest was the American Opportunity Tax Credit. It is worth up to $2,500 a year. It counts only tuition, required fees and books that you pay yourself, not from a 529 and not with a grant, and it takes $4,000 of those a year to get the full credit.
From another state, the plan is about interest
A family from another state gets neither scholarship. Georgia's public universities cost those families $21,897 to $55,284 a year before aid. For them, a good plan saved a median of $11,997, and 92 percent of that was interest. Borrowing more than a family could repay was rare. Parents would have had to borrow more than one and a half times their income in 6 of the 378 scenarios we priced.
What that looks like for four families
All four are at Dalton State College, the cheapest campus, so these are the gentle end of the range, not the frightening end. We print every figure we used, including the aid we assumed and why. Each result is one family's, not an average, and none of them is a quote for you.
| The family | Default | With a plan | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
$75,000 income · in-state $0 in a 529 · $2,000 cash · $500 a month We assume $0 a year in grants — no HOPE or Zell Miller award assumed. We price the awards separately above. | $91,310 | $86,030 | $5,280 mostly interest |
$125,000 income · in-state $100,000 in a 529 · $30,000 cash · $500 a month We assume $0 a year in grants — no HOPE or Zell Miller award assumed. We price the awards separately above. | $68,595 | $58,695 | $9,900 mostly tax credits |
$75,000 income · out-of-state $0 in a 529 · $2,000 cash · $500 a month We assume $0 a year in grants — no Georgia scholarship assumed for a family from another state. | $162,590 | $145,790 | $16,800 mostly interest |
$125,000 income · out-of-state $100,000 in a 529 · $30,000 cash · $500 a month We assume $0 a year in grants — no Georgia scholarship assumed for a family from another state. | $102,060 | $92,160 | $9,900 mostly tax credits |
The 21 universities, cheapest first
Bachelor's-degree universities with complete cost data, projected to 2027. Cost of attendance includes tuition, fees, housing, food and books. The scenario table above assumes no HOPE or Zell Miller award. We price the awards in their own section.
| Campus | In-state | Out-of-state |
|---|---|---|
| Dalton State College | $13,898 | $21,897 |
| Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College | $15,250 | $23,249 |
| Gordon State College | $16,141 | $24,139 |
| Savannah State University | $18,785 | $33,311 |
| Clayton State University | $19,030 | $31,434 |
| University of North Georgia | $19,862 | $32,121 |
| Albany State University | $21,126 | $33,530 |
| Middle Georgia State University | $21,436 | $33,841 |
| Fort Valley State University | $21,722 | $34,186 |
| Georgia Southwestern State University | $22,383 | $34,788 |
| Valdosta State University | $22,730 | $35,528 |
| Columbus State University | $23,686 | $36,484 |
| University of West Georgia | $24,019 | $36,817 |
| Georgia Gwinnett College | $24,638 | $34,813 |
| Augusta University | $25,705 | $43,539 |
| Kennesaw State University | $26,234 | $39,268 |
| Georgia Southern University | $26,695 | $39,493 |
| University of Georgia | $30,589 | $52,703 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | $30,779 | $55,284 |
| Georgia State University | $30,860 | $48,536 |
| Georgia College & State University | $33,064 | $55,275 |
What a plan is worth here, and to whom
What we sell is the payment plan itself: $99, built by the same calculations that priced these scenarios.
For a family with HOPE, the scholarship pays most of the tuition. The rest of the bill is still there: fees, housing, food and books. A plan puts it in the order that costs least.
For a family without HOPE, the stakes are the $6,960 above: four years of savings, loans and the tax credit, put in order. A plan works out that order against your own numbers, so you know it is right.
And for the family of a high school student, the most useful step in this guide costs nothing. Know that the 3.0 decides most of the money, and that Georgia recalculates it from the transcript.
Build your plan →Guides to other systems
We do the same work for each system. The systems are built differently, so what is true of one is often false of another, and we write each guide from its own numbers.
Where the prices come from: the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, carried forward to 2027. SmartTuition.ai worked out what each family described here would pay. SmartTuition.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any institution named here.