Law enforcement studies added to Georgia’s state-paid college tuition program

Grants that pay for 100% of tuition at Georgia Northwestern Technical College are available for many high-demand careers — and college officials said that law enforcement classes will be added to that list beginning in the fall.

“When a high-demand industry experiences a workforce shortage, the Technical College System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development work with the governor’s office to identify the industry/career as high-demand and work to have the field of study added to the list of approved programs,” Amber Jordan, the college’s director of marketing and public relations, said by email.

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Training for careers in aviation, business, health, public service and industry qualify for the state-funded Hope Career Grant program.

The one- and two-year training programs are available at the 22 institutions of the Technical College System of Georgia, including the six campuses in Northwest Georgia and regionally at Dalton State College.

Students must be receiving the Hope Grant to be eligible for the supplemental Hope Career Grant. They are also required to continue paying the remaining costs for college fees, books and materials each semester.

The Criminal Justice and Basic Law Enforcement programs will be eligible for the Hope Career Grant in the fall semester of 2022, which begins in August, Jordan wrote.

“The Hope Career Grant program continues to provide much-needed financial relief to a growing number of students who are better able to complete their programs of study with little to no school-related debt,” Georgia Northwestern Technical College Vice President of Student Affairs Stuart Phillips said in a news release.

About 840 students took advantage of the Hope Career Grant program in spring 2022, and 1,334 have done so this academic year, Phillips wrote.

According to another release from the technical college, the $25 application fee will be waived between Monday and April 15 for all new applicants. The summer semester begins May 16, and the registration deadline is April 25.

Then-Gov. Nathan Deal began the career grant program in 2014 to address a mismatch between jobs available and the skills of Georgia workers trying to get hired, according to Georgia Trend magazine.

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Employers and administrators have both called the program a success, Georgia Trend found.

Ray Perren, deputy commissioner for technical education with the Technical College System of Georgia and former president of three technical colleges, told the magazine that in 2021 there were 29,491 high-demand career graduates and 99% of them were hired, with at least 90% being placed in their field of study.

In the previous three years, 4,718 students used the program to cover tuition costs. The college has an annual credit enrollment of 8,528 students, with 2,606 more people enrolled through adult education, continuing education, business and industry training and Georgia Quick Start.

The six campuses of Georgia Northwestern Technical College include Catoosa, Floyd, Gordon, Polk and Walker counties, as well as the Whitfield Murray campus. Many classes can be taken online, according to information on the technical college’s website.

Contact Andrew Wilkins at aw******@ti************.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @tweetatwilkins.