PAULDING CO., Ga. -- Paulding County students return to school in just a few short weeks, and the sheriff's office is gearing up to make sure they stay safe in school zones.

Sheriff Gary Gulledge said he and his deputies will patrol school zones and watch for drivers who fail to stop for school buses as part of their daily operations when school begins on Wednesday, Aug. 3.

Georgia law requires drivers to stop in both directions for school buses that are displaying their red flashing lights and have their stop arms activated.

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia students can now apply for low-interest loans aimed to help families that need extra help paying for college.

State lawmakers set aside $20 million this year for the program as part of an overhaul to the lottery-funded HOPE scholarship that cut back the awards for most students. But according to lawmakers, fewer than 6,000 students will get loans.

Tim Connell, president of the Georgia Student Finance Commission, said the average loan award will be $3,500 with a maximum award of $10,000. If requests exceed the money available, a computer will randomly select who gets loans.

Loans will have a 1 percent interest rate. To qualify, students must graduate high school with a 2.5 GPA and maintain at least a 2.0 in college.

DUNWOODY, Ga. -- Georgia parents have two new opportunities to begin saving for their kids' college educations.

The Path2College 529 Plan is giving significant college contributions to two lucky Georgia children through its Newborn Sweepstakes and Destination College Savings Sweepstakes.

Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal is an advocate of the latter program, which she helped launch during her Read Across Georgia tour last month.

RELATED: Sandra Deal, Path2College to launch college savings initiative

Through the Newborn Sweepstakes, one Georgia baby born between Jan. 1, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2011 will be awarded $5,529 toward a Path2College 529 Plan.