HOPE Scholarship?

[corolla02]

Hi there;
I will be receiving HOPE for couple next semesters in school, so I wanted to know how the Government treats this money, as an income to be reported at the end of the year or something else? Does it increase my tax bracket or basically stays the same? I am about to quit my full-time job and start to look out for a part-time job. Needles to say, I am in 15% tax bracket.
Thanks for your input!

[jIM_Ohio]

It is a non refundable creit worth up to $1800 per year. To obtain a credit you need to have a tax liability of ar least $1800 for the year.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Jim is talking about the federal Hope tax credit program. Are you, corolla02, asking about the Georgia state scholarship and grant program that is also called Hope?

[corolla02]

Originally Posted by Joan.of.the.Arch

Jim is talking about the federal Hope tax credit program. Are you, corolla02, asking about the Georgia state scholarship and grant program that is also called Hope?

Yes Arch, am asking for HOPE Scolarship here in Georgia. How the government treats this assistance/money.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I hope that someone can answer your question more precisely, but I think you will probably find that it is not a taxable income or benefit. Here are some guidelines on the IRS site.

Publication 970 (2007), Tax Benefits for Education

My son has a cluster of scholarships, part of which is federally income taxed because he uses part of it to pay his rent and for supplies that are not strictly required.

[corolla02]

Thanks Arch, clear enough.

[red92s]

I attended college under the HOPE scholarship in Georgia (well, except for 2 semesters. It's tough to keep a 3.0 GPA and stay on scholarship in a rigorous engineering school; I had a 2.99 one semester and lost the scholarship till I got it up. My enrollment costs for FIVE years of school were less than half of what an out of state student paid for ONE year. I never really saw what happened as far as the taxation implications, as my parents dealt with that end most of the time. As far as I know, it was never considered "income". The scholarship is just automatically deducted from my bursars statement.

Originally Posted by corolla02

Yes Arch, am asking for HOPE Scolarship here in Georgia. How the government treats this assistance/money.

[corolla02]

Yes, I agree it is tough to keep it but it is achievable. I will have it for two first semesters and later they going to re-evaluate my academic progress.
As far as out of state tuition goes, to me, make no sense $$$ to pay for unnecessary fees.

Thanks for your input.

[red92s]

Originally Posted by corolla02

Yes, I agree it is tough to keep it but it is achievable. I will have it for two first semesters and later they going to re-evaluate my academic progress.
As far as out of state tuition goes, to me, make no sense $$$ to pay for unnecessary fees.

Thanks for your input.

When I was on it, they used to evaluate your GPA for HOPE every 30 credit hours. Pretty much everyone who thought they might not make the 3.0 GPA cutoff for an evaluation would take, say, 16 hours one semester and 13 the next . . . giving you one extra semester to pull grades up. I know this has now changed, and there are caps on how much money you can get (no longer increases with tuiton).

I graduated with a great education and ZERO debt, and I can't stress how nice not having to repay student loans is when you start working. You have a great oppurtunity, use it well.