# Georgia HB 38: Education; needs based financial aid program; revise definition of eligible student

Georgia HB 38, Education; needs based financial aid program; revise definition of eligible student, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Scott Hilton (Republican), Jan Jones (Republican), Charles Martin (Republican) and 2 others; status signed, last action 2025-05-12 (House Date Signed by Governor); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB38-2025-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Georgia HB 38
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Education; needs based financial aid program; revise definition of eligible student
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-01-14
- Last action: 2025-05-12, House Date Signed by Governor
- Sponsors: Scott Hilton (Republican), Jan Jones (Republican), Charles Martin (Republican), Matt Reeves (Republican), Deborah Silcox (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Higher Education, General Bill
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 2 (215 yes, 8 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- More Georgia students qualify for aid: benefit, high. Georgia lowers the completed-credit requirement for needs-based college aid from 80% to 70% for four-year programs. The requirement for two-year programs is 45%. Students must have family income that meets the commission’s financial-need criteria or have a financial aid gap. They must also meet com…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Scott Hilton (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Jan Jones (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Charles Martin (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Matt Reeves (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Deborah Silcox (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Max Burns (Republican), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-03-28 | Senate | PASSAGE | pass | 46 | 5 |   |
| 2025-02-19 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 169 | 3 | 5 |

## Actions (15)

- 2025-05-12: House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- 2025-05-12: Act 118
- 2025-05-12: Effective Date
- 2025-04-07: House Sent to Governor (House)
- 2025-03-28: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2025-03-28: Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- 2025-03-18: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2025-03-13: Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- 2025-02-20: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2025-02-19: House Third Readers (House)
- 2025-02-19: House Passed/Adopted (House)
- 2025-01-30: House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- 2025-01-16: House Second Readers (House)
- 2025-01-15: House First Readers (House)
- 2025-01-14: House Hopper (House)

## Bill text

- HB 38/AP* (v3): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238064)

## Related bills

- SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckless stunt driving; replace the forfeiture penalty (signed)
- SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation for certain motor vehicles; provide (signed)
- SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Service Foundation; establish (signed)
- SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact (signed)
- HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish (signed)
- HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact (signed)

## Sources
- [HB 38/AP* (v3) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238064)

## Related
- [SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckles…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB160-2025-2026)
- [SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation f…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB384-2025-2026)
- [SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Servic…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB76-2025-2026)
- [SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB406-2025-2026)
- [HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1391-2025-2026)
- [HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1344-2025-2026)
- [Georgia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia/bills)
- [Georgia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB38-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).