Since Georgia's "Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally" (HOPE) Scholarship was initiated in 1993, more than a dozen states have adopted similar state-sponsored merit-based financial aid programs. One recent concern on merit-based programs has focused on their unintended adverse effect on students' choosing science and engineering as their majors. Using the state-sponsored merit aid programs in Georgia and Florida as natural experiments, the author and colleagues examined these programs on degree production in STEM disciplines. Results suggested that in general both HOPE and Bright Future increased the production of baccalaureate degrees in STEM fields in these two states; however, results vary by state and gender. (Contains 1 figure, 5 tables, and 6 notes.)