[mgibbs63]

The HOPE Scholarship (the Georgia in-state scholarship program) still exists, but since the early 2000's, it has become considerably harder to qualify for. It used to be as easy as graduating from a public high school in Georgia with a 3.0 GPA, and would cover all your tuition, up to 15 credit hours per semester. Once you were in college, I don't believe there were even any GPA requirements. Today, I think you need a 3.7 GPA to qualify. EDIT: Looks like you still just need a 3.0, but there are additional 'academic rigor' requirements on the high school courses you take.

It was a spectacular bargain (and still is, but to fewer students), and paid for my degree at Georgia Tech, which is a pretty good school. The system is funded by lottery revenue, though, which brings up some thorny issues. The majority of people who buy lottery tickets are working class, but the majority of HOPE recipients are upper-middle class - effectively a bizarre reverse-welfare program.

In most other states, similar programs don't exist, and even students who are willing to stay in-state and work while they go to school end up with some student debt.