November 21, 2003

Hope Wanes for Georgia's Merit-Based Scholarships

The widely copied plan faces a large deficit; will politicians save it?

By Jeffrey Selingo

Zell Miller never set out to revolutionize how student aid was delivered in the states. When he dreamed up the idea of giving college scholarships to Georgia high-school graduates with a B average, he was mainly looking for an issue on which he could get elected governor. He not only succeeded in doing that, but along the way created the most loved and criticized financial-aid program in the country.

Now, 10 years after the first HOPE Scholarship was awarded, the program's influence