Date of Award

5-14-2017

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Social Sciences

Advisor(s)

Jan Ondrich

Keywords

ArcGIS, College Tuition, HOPE Scholarship, Interstate Migration

Subject Categories

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

The HOPE scholarship program, created by the state of Georgia in 1993, is the first large scale, merit-based higher educational scholarship program in the United States. In this research, I use border analysis and difference-in-differences estimates to test the hypothesis that the HOPE scholarship program attracts interstate education migration from Georgia’s neighboring states. My results support my hypothesis. I find that border areas in Georgia attract high school seniors from the adjacent areas in border states that do not have the HOPE scholarship program. In addition, I use the IPUMS dataset to provide further analysis to the effect of the HOPE scholarship program on interstate migration for entire states rather than for border areas. I find that for a family with high school children, Georgia is the most popular destination state in the inter-state migration within the southeastern area in the period of 1995-2000, because the HOPE scholarship reduces tuition in Georgia significantly.

Access

Open Access

Download

Share

COinS