<p>
</p>
<p>If it was a political move, then it didn’t work that well (probably because the original HOPE scholarship was implemented as an entitlement for lower and lower-middle class families). Many of the Democrats – who I think held majorities in both the GA House and Senate, and controlled the governor’s office at the time HOPE was passed – were not re-elected. When the legislature changed hope from a need-based to a merit-based scholarship, more and more of GA’s top students stayed in state, especially at GA Tech and UGA. From my perspective (which might be a little biased, since my tuition is paid courtesy of the HOPE scholarship) it has been a pretty effective use of public dollars that might otherwise have disappeared into the black hole that is the General Fund.</p>