Georgia's HOPE scholarship goes to lots of kids who don't need it.

More than 90 percent of HOPE scholars would go to college even without the award, University of Georgia researchers say. And many who get the money come from families wealthier than the state average, according to a review by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

But that's not the image that the public has of HOPE.

Nine out of 10 Georgians believe HOPE has been somewhat or very effective in helping people attend college who otherwise couldn't afford to go, according to a recent poll by the AJC and Zogby America.

Throughout the University System, three-quarters of HOPE scholars come from families who either have incomes too high to qualify for the federal government's need-based aid program or who don't bother to apply for it, data for the 2000-2001 school year show.

At Georgia Southern University, parents of about 70 percent of the 4,757 HOPE scholars at the school made more than the average Georgia family's income of $41,707, according to records for 1999-2000, the last time the university required all HOPE students to report income data.

In fact, HOPE went to 46 Georgia Southern students whose parents earned more than $250,000 a year, averaging $453,000.

UGA economics professors Chris Cornwell and David Mustard compared college enrollment rates in Southeastern states and concluded that less than 10 percent of HOPE money goes to students who would otherwise not have gone to college.

The program isn't generating many new collegegoers, said Cornwell, who has authored several studies and papers on HOPE.

Instead, the scholarship has simply persuaded more students to stay in the state for college, Cornwell said.

"HOPE has been about moving kids around," he said.

Cornwell said that's in part because HOPE's B average requirement limits it to students likely to go to college anyway. He said some studies suggest programs that reach students in early childhood have a greater impact on their education. Georgia's lottery-funded pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds is ultimately expected to improve the college attendance rate.

HOPE supporters say the scholarship program has had other successes. It is credited with pumping up SAT scores of incoming freshmen and raising admission standards at Georgia's public colleges.

Gary Henry, a Georgia State University researcher who also studies HOPE, said a change made in the program three years ago is likely to increase the percentage of Georgians who go to college. Before 2000, students who qualified for federal Pell Grants -- which are based on financial need -- couldn't receive HOPE. With that rule removed, it should be easier for low-income students to go to college, Henry said.

Some students do say HOPE has helped them make it to college.

Sly Colquitt, a 27-year-old bouncer at a bar near Georgia Southern, graduated from the university two years ago. His parents never went beyond high school and mostly worked factory jobs. They contributed all they could to his college education: $600 for his five years in school, said Colquitt, who is from Columbus.

"If I didn't have HOPE at least that first year, I wouldn't have been in college," he said.

But dozens of current students interviewed at five public colleges and universities in Georgia said they would have gone to college even without HOPE. They say HOPE has made their lives easier in other ways. Some said savings from the scholarship have helped them avoid having to work a part-time job or live at home during college. Others said HOPE has limited the college loans they needed.

And some of the money that families save on tuition is going to buy cars, say researchers Cornwell and Mustard, who have tied increases in car registrations to the amount of HOPE money distributed.

For UGA senior Robin Abramson, who transferred from the University of Tennessee last year, the savings her parents got from HOPE and the fact that she's now attending school in the state means she's been able to afford an off-campus apartment and a car.

Jim Chambers, the owner of Dingus MaGee's, a bar across from Georgia Southern, said he knows where the money scholars save ends up.

"It's going in here," Chambers said, pointing to his cash register. "It's going into Wal-Mart. There are lots of SUVs, Tahoes, BMWs and Lexuses."