Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Keep HOPE Alive!
Southern Appeal links to an interesting discussion of one of the holy grails of Georgia politics, the HOPE Scholarship, which basically pays in-state tuition at any Georgia public university (or a partial scholarship to a private university) for Georgia residents. Marginal Revolution cites research showing that HOPE has not resulted in students attending college who otherwise would not, instead having as its main effect keeping students in Georgia who otherwise may have attended school out of state. The research cited also suggests that grade inflation is at work - high schools make sure students get the "B" average necessary to earn the HOPE award, and once at college, a combination of grade inflation and students simply ducking harder courses work to keep the average at the "B" level necessary to renew the scholarship. There's also a claim that students are spending the money on cars - which doesn't surprise me, since my own anecdotal observations are that plenty of HOPE applicants are people whose families could easily afford college on their own, but are using HOPE to attend the University of Georgia.
Southern Appeal defends the program. Under his analysis, HOPE is keeping top-flight students in Georgia, which is good for UGA, making it very difficult to get into, and sending high-quality students to other public GA universities, that they may not have otherwise considered. Also, by keeping top students in Georgia, Sims argues that helps keep top talent in the state, making it more likely that they'll settle down here, which is certainly worth something.
My big problem with HOPE is that we're paying for rich kids, too. And since HOPE is funded with lottery money, that means that the college tuition of the upper middle class is paid for with the rent and grocery money of the working poor. This newfound entitlement (and believe me, every high school kid in Georgia feels entitled to this damn thing) is getting expensive, and when lottery income takes a dip, everyone feels it. Some kind of modest means testing would to what the program should do - open the classroom doors to good students that can't afford it. And while I'm sure the Republicans currently running Georgia won't see it my way, not spending money on people who don't need it is the sort of thing conservatives should always do. And Democrats can help, too. After all, this whole HOPE thing was Zell Miller's baby. And he's evil now, right?
Southern Appeal defends the program. Under his analysis, HOPE is keeping top-flight students in Georgia, which is good for UGA, making it very difficult to get into, and sending high-quality students to other public GA universities, that they may not have otherwise considered. Also, by keeping top students in Georgia, Sims argues that helps keep top talent in the state, making it more likely that they'll settle down here, which is certainly worth something.
My big problem with HOPE is that we're paying for rich kids, too. And since HOPE is funded with lottery money, that means that the college tuition of the upper middle class is paid for with the rent and grocery money of the working poor. This newfound entitlement (and believe me, every high school kid in Georgia feels entitled to this damn thing) is getting expensive, and when lottery income takes a dip, everyone feels it. Some kind of modest means testing would to what the program should do - open the classroom doors to good students that can't afford it. And while I'm sure the Republicans currently running Georgia won't see it my way, not spending money on people who don't need it is the sort of thing conservatives should always do. And Democrats can help, too. After all, this whole HOPE thing was Zell Miller's baby. And he's evil now, right?
