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<p>Clearly, eliminating the program or reducing the # of eligible students would take $ and students away from Georgia universities – I don’t know how to quantify the impact that HOPE reductions would have on the state economy, but I bet it would be significant. IMO an educated workforce is not so much a problem now as it was 20 or 30 years ago, when legislators began talking about the idea of a lottery to fund higher education. Statewide, Georgia K-12 was often ranked as the worst or second-to-worst (or third-to-worst, if we’re lucky). K-12 still ranks at or near dead-last. Since HOPE, higher ed. has improved dramatically (I think Georgia, of all places, is one of 3 states with at least 2 public universities ranked in the top 60 by US News, the other two states being California and Virginia).</p>
<p>Is HOPE absolutely necessary? I don’t think so. Having said that, it sure has helped a lot of GA students afford college, and it’s also convinced many higher-achieving students to stay in the state for college (thus helping the economy directly and indirectly).</p>