HOPE scholars would no longer get book and fee money and their grades would be checked more frequently in college to determine if they remain eligible for the award under recommendations supported by a commission trying to preserve the scholarship program.

The panel of legislators, parents, students and educators also recommended the state use a standard 3.0 grade point average -- rather than a percentage score -- to determine HOPE eligibility, a move that could keep thousands of current students from getting a scholarship in the future.

The recommendations were backed this morning during the final meeting of the commission. Those recommendations will be included in legislation lawmakers consider when they reconvene in January.

If some changes aren't made, HOPE and Georgia's lottery-funded free pre-kindergarten program are projected to begin dipping into their reserves in the 2006-07 budget year. The programs would sink $434 million into debt two years later.

The panel is expected to discuss adding an SAT requirement to HOPE -- which currently requires a student to have at least a B average -- this afternoon.

On another issue, the panel indicated it was open to Gov. Sonny Perdue's controversial proposal for tying HOPE scholarships to a minimum SAT score.

Members of the panel, in a secret ballot, scored that option the highest of four potential further steps the state could take if additional savings are needed.

Perdue contends adding an SAT requirement would push students to work harder and lift the state from the cellar of SAT rankings among states. For two years in a row, Georgia has been in 50th place.

Critics claim the impact would fall most heavily on black students, whose average SAT scores lag those of white students.

Currently, 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 are also eligible, and students at Georgia private colleges can receive a $3,000 annual grant.

Under the changes made by HOPE, students would no longer get money for books or fees starting next fall, a move that would save the program about $125 million in fiscal 2005, which begins July 1. It would cost students or their parents up to $1,200 a year.

A HOPE scholar's grades would also be checked at the end of the spring semester to see if they've maintained the B average necessary to keep the scholarship. Currently, students aren't checked until they have accumulated 30 credits. That has allowed many students to keep the scholarship with low grades for more than a year by taking few credits each semester. Other students take few classes each semester because it is easier to maintain good grades, a move that means they take longer to graduate.

The early check means students with low grades will lose the scholarship faster.

Commission members also unanimously supported going to the 3.0 grade point average.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis showed standards for a B average vary widely from school to school in Georgia. Many high schools graduate large numbers of HOPE-eligible students, only to have them need remedial course work when they get to college. Only 40 percent of HOPE scholars survive their freshman year with the B average they need to retain the scholarship.

While both 80 percent and a 3.0 GPA are generally defined as a B average, a 3.0 is harder to get, because it limits how much one high grade --- such as a 99 --- can pull up a report card studded witth C's.

Toughening the definition of a B to a 3.0 grade point average could reduce the money paid out in scholarships by about $33.5 million or more, depending on the year it is implemented.

About a third of the HOPE scholars entering Georgia's public universities do not have a standard 3.0 GPA, according to Board of Regents estimates.

The panel opposed shutting off HOPE scholarships to students needing remedial college work. One of the proposals was to stop giving the HOPE scholarship to students while they are taking remedial math, reading or English classes in college.