Eligible High School information for the Zell Miller Scholarship
A student named the valedictorian or salutatorian of his or her graduating class is eligible for the Zell Miller Scholarship as long as the student has a minimum 3.0 HOPE GPA and meets all other HOPE Scholarship requirements.
A student who graduates from an eligible high school in 2011 or later with a minimum 3.7 GPA (as calculated by GSFC) and required test scores may academically qualify for the Zell Miller Scholarship as an entering freshman in a degree program at an eligible college or university in Georgia.
Students need a minimum composite score of 26 on a single national or state/district administration of the ACT or minimum 1200 on a single national administration of the SAT, prior to high school graduation, in order to meet the test score requirement for the Zell Miller Scholarship. If the SAT was taken before March 1, 2016, the 1200 score is based on the reading and math portions of the test. If the SAT was taken on or after March 1, 2016, 1200 is based on the total test score.
To have your SAT scores sent to the Georgia Student Finance Commission for scholarship eligibility evaluation, a request may be submitted to College Board or call 866.630.9305. Select Georgia Student Finance’s score recipient code of ‘0472’ so that the report will be sent directly to the Georgia Student Finance Commission office. The request for an ACT score report may be submitted to ACT or call 319.337.1270. The ACT report should be mailed to the student's home address and the unopened report should be sent to Georgia Student Finance Commission at the address below.
An eligible high school must be accredited by one or more of the accrediting agencies listed below:
If the high school is located in the state of Georgia:
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
- Georgia Accrediting Commission
- Georgia Association of Christian Schools
- Association of Christian Schools International
- Georgia Private School Accreditation Council
- Southern Association of Independent Schools
If the high school is located outside the state of Georgia:
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
- New England Association of Schools and Colleges
- Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
- North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
- Northwest Accreditation Commission
- Western Association of Schools and Colleges
- Alabama Independent School Association
- Southern Association of Independent Schools.
A student who graduates from an eligible high school must earn a 3.7 cumulative grade point average on all core coursework and a minimum combined score of 1,200 on the math and reading portions of the SAT in a single national administration of the test or a minimum composite score of 26 on the ACT in a single national administration of the test. The high school grade point average calculation for the Zell Miller Scholarship is the same as the calculation for the HOPE Scholarship.
If you graduate from an eligible high school located in Georgia, your high school should automatically send your transcript data to GSFC for calculation of your Zell Miller Scholarship grade point average. This process is electronic. Once your grade point average is calculated, finalized, and verified by your high school, you can view it by logging into your GAfutures account. Additionally, GSFC should receive a copy of your ACT or SAT test scores if you took the test in Georgia. Eligible high schools will also report their valedictorian and salutatorian data to GSFC.
If you graduate from an eligible high school located outside the state of Georgia, you must complete and submit the Request for Out-of-State High School Transcript Evaluation Form and the required documents as one package to the following address:
Georgia Student Finance Commission
Program Administration
2082 East Exchange Place
Tucker, Georgia 30084
If you are certain that you met both the Zell Miller Scholarship GPA requirement and the ACT or SAT score requirement at the time you graduated high school, please download and complete the HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship Eligibility Evaluation Request form and return to GSFC at the above address.
