---
title: HB 1417. Education; inclusion of advanced placement, international baccalaureate, and Cambridge fine arts courses in calculation of grade point averages for determining student eligibility for HOPE scholarships and other scholarships; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1417
cite_as: HB 1417, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1417
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1417.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1417/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73471
date: 2026-02-25
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1416.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1418.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1417.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1417
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-20
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Lisa Campbell
- Karen Lupton
- Chris Erwin
- David Wilkerson
- Doreen Carter
- Lydia Glaize
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1417/2025
upstream_id: 2121400
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- HOPE scholarship
- fine arts education
- grade point average
- Georgia high schools
- scholarship eligibility
---
# HB 1417. Education; inclusion of advanced placement, international baccalaureate, and Cambridge fine arts courses in calculation of grade point averages for determining student eligibility for HOPE scholarships and other scholarships; provide
## Text
House Bill 1417
By: Representatives Campbell of the 35th, Lupton of the 83rd, Erwin of the 32nd, Wilkerson
of the 38th, Carter of the 93rd, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 20-2-157 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
uniform reporting system for certain purposes, dual credit courses, and academic eligibility
requirements to receive HOPE scholarship, so as to provide for the inclusion of advanced
placement, international baccalaureate, and Cambridge fine arts courses in the calculation
of grade point averages for determining student eligibility for the HOPE scholarships and
other scholarships; to provide for applicability; to provide for a definition; to provide for
related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 20-2-157 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to uniform
reporting system for certain purposes, dual credit courses, and academic eligibility
requirements to receive HOPE scholarship, is amended by revising subsection (a.1),
paragraph (3.1) of subsection (b), and paragraph (3) of subsection (c) as follows:
"(a.1) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Dual 'dual credit course' shall have the same meaning as in Code Section 20-2-161.3.
(2) 'Fine arts' means an advanced placement, international baccalaureate, or Cambridge
fine arts course for which the Department of Education has designated a unique course
number and name indicating that such course is classified as advanced placement,
international baccalaureate, or Cambridge."
"(3.1) For students otherwise qualified and enrolling in the ninth grade for the first time
during the 2008-2009 school year and thereafter, the Georgia Student Finance
Commission shall calculate grade point averages for determining eligibility for the HOPE
scholarship and other scholarships referenced in this Code section by equating each grade
for a student in attempted coursework in English, mathematics, science, social studies,
fine arts, and foreign language during the student's ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade
year to a grade on a 4.0 scale, such that a grade of 'A' = 4.0, a grade of 'B' = 3.0, a grade
of 'C' = 2.0, a grade of 'D' = 1.0, and a grade of 'F' = 0. Grades for coursework that is
classified as advanced placement, a dual credit course, or international baccalaureate shall
be weighted uniformly by the Georgia Student Finance Commission in calculating the
overall grade point averages for students, provided that the weighting of such course
grades is uniformly applied to all students in this state taking the specified coursework.
The sum of the equated grades shall be divided by the number of course grades, adjusted
for term length, to yield a grade point average on a 4.0 scale; and"
"(3) The Georgia Student Finance Commission shall calculate a grade point average for
the purpose of determining eligibility for the HOPE scholarship from these electronic
transcripts and shall notify students of their potential eligibility and high schools as to the
potential eligibility of students; provided, however, that the Georgia Student Finance
Commission shall not include fine arts course grades in the calculation of any grade point
average for any student who graduated from high school before July 1, 2026."
SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2026.
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia House bill would count advanced placement, international baccalaureate, and Cambridge fine arts courses in the grade point average used to decide HOPE scholarship eligibility, starting with students graduating on or after July 1, 2026.
### Plain-language summary
Right now, Georgia's HOPE scholarship grade point average is calculated from grades in English, math, science, social studies, and foreign language, weighted for advanced placement, dual credit, and international baccalaureate coursework. Fine arts courses are not part of that calculation. This bill amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-157 to add advanced placement, international baccalaureate, and Cambridge fine arts courses to the list of subjects the Georgia Student Finance Commission uses when calculating grade point averages for HOPE and other referenced scholarships.
The bill defines 'fine arts' as an advanced placement, international baccalaureate, or Cambridge course that the Department of Education has given a unique course number and name identifying it as one of those course types. It specifies that the Georgia Student Finance Commission will not apply this change to students who graduated from high school before July 1, 2026, the date the law would take effect.
### What it does
- Adds fine arts coursework (limited to advanced placement, international baccalaureate, or Cambridge fine arts courses) to the subjects used in calculating HOPE scholarship grade point averages.
- Defines 'fine arts' as an AP, IB, or Cambridge course that the Department of Education has coded with a unique course number identifying it as such.
- Blocks retroactive application by barring the Georgia Student Finance Commission from including fine arts grades for students who graduated high school before July 1, 2026.
- Sets the effective date of the changes as July 1, 2026.
### Who it affects
Georgia high school students taking advanced placement, international baccalaureate, or Cambridge fine arts courses who are applying for the HOPE scholarship or other referenced scholarships, along with the Georgia Student Finance Commission and the Department of Education, which administer and code these courses.
### Why it matters
Students who take advanced fine arts coursework could see it factored into their HOPE eligibility calculation, potentially affecting whether they qualify or how their grade point average is weighted, while students who already graduated before July 1, 2026 would not have their past grade point averages recalculated.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 revises subsection (a.1) of O.C.G.A. § 20-2-157 to define 'fine arts' as AP, IB, or Cambridge fine arts courses specifically coded by the Department of Education.
- Section 1 revises paragraph (3.1) of subsection (b) to add fine arts to the list of subjects (English, math, science, social studies, foreign language) used in the GPA calculation for HOPE eligibility.
- Section 1 revises paragraph (3) of subsection (c) to bar the Georgia Student Finance Commission from including fine arts grades for students who graduated before July 1, 2026.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026.
- Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-20)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-02-25)
- Sponsors: Lisa Campbell, Karen Lupton, Chris Erwin, David Wilkerson, Doreen Carter, Lydia Glaize
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73471
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1417.md?full=1