MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – It may soon get tougher for high school students to get a lottery scholarship in South Carolina.

Sen. Greg Hembree, a Republican from North Myrtle Beach, is sponsoring a bill that would raise the grades and test scores needed to get a lottery scholarship.

Horry-Georgetown Technical College is one of the colleges that says it benefits from students who get those scholarships.

“About 90 percent of our students receive some form of financial aid,” said Harold Hawley, HGTC vice president of financial administration. “In regard to the lottery, about half the students actually are recipients of South Carolina lottery-based proceeds.”

Sen. Hembree says the scholarship requirements haven’t followed the state’s switch to a ten-point grading scale.

He also says the requirements for those scholarships need to be fixed because too many students are eligible, making it too expensive for the state.

“That was an unintended consequence that has now put an $80 million hole in the lottery scholarship program,” Sen. Hembree said. “That’s a hole that, over the long haul, we can’t sustain.”

The bill would require a student to have a 3.5 GPA and 1170 on the SAT to receive the $5,000 LIFE scholarship. The current requirement is a 3.0 GPA and 1100 on the SAT.

It would also raise requirements for the HOPE and Palmetto Fellows scholarships.

Sen. Hembree says $20 million would also be added to programs for lower income students.

“That would get us a little more in line with the rest of the country,” he said. “Most lottery scholarship programs are heavy on the need-based, light on the merit-based.”

Hawley says he hopes the lottery scholarship programs keep helping students continue their education.

“The South Carolina legislature has been extremely fair to us in awarding these funds,” said Hawley. “The benefits have been immeasurable to the citizens of the state.”

The state senate education committee is expected to discuss the bill on Wednesday. Sen. Hembree says the bill likely would have to wait until next year to pass.

If it did pass next year, the new requirements would be in place for current high school freshmen when they apply for scholarships.