Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor called on Georgia's University System to freeze tuition for three years to hold down the rapidly escalating costs of the HOPE scholarship program.

Taylor also said the state should start using a standard 3.0 grade point average to determine HOPE eligibility, and check the grades of college students more frequently to make sure they are maintaining the B average necessary to keep the scholarship. Both proposals will be in legislation being proposed during the next few weeks.

Taylor, speaking at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce's annual legislative breakfast, added that he opposes two proposals that will likely be made during the session: to eliminate the book and fee money HOPE pays students, and Gov. Sonny Perdue's plan to require a minimum SAT score for the scholarship.

"I oppose any cuts to the program," said Taylor who, as a state senator, helped push the bill creating HOPE through the legislature in the early 1990s. "In the name of saving HOPE, God let us not destroy it."

If changes aren't made, officials have estimated that HOPE and the pre-kindergarten program -- which also is funded through the lottery -- will begin dipping into financial reserves in the 2006-07 budget year. Some recent budget proposals predict that the money could run out next year.

Under HOPE, students with a B average or higher receive full tuition, mandatory fees and money for books to attend a Georgia public college. Technical school students also are eligible, and students at Georgia private colleges can receive a $3,000 annual grant.

A state commission studied the issue last fall and is about to file legislation to help cut HOPE costs. That legislation will include the elimination of book and fee money for HOPE scholars starting this fall, a move that would increase the college costs of some students by more than $1,000 a year.

Taylor said he opposes cutting the amount of money students receive from HOPE because college costs have risen much faster than the rate of inflation. He said the Board of Regents has been free to raise tuition because HOPE has picked up the cost for students on the scholarship. Rising tuition means HOPE spends more even if the number of scholars remains constant.

"There doesn't seem to be anything that federal and state government can do, because whatever they do ... tuition goes up," Taylor said. "Since 1980, the cost of tuition at Georgia's research institutions has increased an average of 16 percent a year, a more than 376 percent increase."

University System officials dispute Taylor's assertion, saying there have been only a few double-digit tuition increases in the past 23 years. One came last year, when tuition at the research universities was raised 15 percent.

Taylor said, "I think families deserve to know how much a college education will cost and they should not be terrorized with escalating prices. In asking for this freeze, I am asking for the Regents and the University System to step up and do its part in the name of saving the HOPE program."

The lieutenant governor said eliminating book and fee money will only add to the burden of Georgia families. For students at the state's research universities, that change could add $1,000 to the cost of attending college.

"The answer to HOPE's problems can best be found with a scalpel, not an ax," he said.

University system officials have blamed tuition increases in recent years on cuts in state funding. Chancellor Thomas Meredith said if Perdue's mid-year budget plan is passed by legislators, the system's funding will have been cut more than $200 million since November 2001.

"I don't believe you can freeze tuition, as much as we might like to," said University of Georgia President Michael Adams, who attended the breakfast. "We have very high quality at low cost. The worst thing we could do is get caught in a position of lowering quality. There is a correlation between cost and quality."

House Speaker Terry Coleman (D-Eastman), speaking at the same event, said the state may want to consider changing HOPE to make it a forgivable loan program. The state has some programs that promise students tuition money if they remain in Georgia to work. If they don't, they are supposed to repay the money. HOPE scholars don't have to repay their scholarship if they leave the state.

"It doesn't do us any good to educate children and adults who leave this state and practice their profession in other states," Coleman said. "If they do, I think we ought to think about asking them to pay it back. That investment needs to show a return."