ATLANTA (December 3, 2025) — The Senate Study Committee on Higher Education Affordability, chaired by Sen. Nan Orrock (D–Atlanta), has voted unanimously to adopt its final report, offering key recommendations to address higher education affordability across Georgia institutions.
Created by Senate Resolution 474 during the 2025 Legislative Session, the committee explored options for making higher education more affordable for Georgians, including the creation of a means-tested scholarship program. Over the last five months, committee members heard from educators, students and various leaders in education about their unique experiences facing the costs of higher education. Testimony highlighted Georgia’s lack of needs-based aid programs compared to other states and how such a program could be structured in the state.
“The purpose of this committee was to confront this major part of Georgia’s affordability crisis and evaluate how we can lift these unnecessary burdens off the backs of countless Georgia families,” said Sen. Orrock. “Over the past few months, we heard from students, families and employers across Georgia, all in agreement that higher education has become too expensive.
Georgia carries the second-highest student loan debt burden in the nation, and we are one of only two states in the nation that still do not offer a robust need-based aid program. Every Georgia student who wants to pursue higher education should have the opportunity to do so, and our state has the means to make that a reality.
With the tireless efforts of our students and our education leaders in mind, I am proud to present these recommendations. If enacted, they will reopen the American dream for hundreds of thousands of Georgia families and ensure higher education remains an accessible pathway to opportunity in our state.”
The final report includes recommendations on how Georgia can create and fund a robust need-based financial aid program to close the state’s growing higher education affordability gap, allowing more low-income students to access and complete postsecondary programs. The report also focuses on strengthening and expanding existing workforce development and job-training initiatives, while maintaining effective student-support programs, to meet employers’ current and future demands for a highly skilled workforce.
The full report is available on the Georgia General Assembly website here.
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Sen. Nan Orrock serves as Minority Caucus Secretary. She represents the 36th Senate District, which includes a portion of Fulton County. She may be reached by phone at (404) 463-8054 or by email at Nan.Orrock@senate.ga.gov.
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