State Technical College, Moultrie Tech Included, Experience Winter Enrollment Jumps
Economy, employment factor in growth
Atlanta – Enrollment in the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) continues to grow at a record pace with 109,548 students currently attending winter quarter classes.
Today’s total is a 26 percent jump over last year and an increase of more than 22,000 students on the campuses of the state’s 28 technical colleges. It’s the system’s largest winter attendance ever and the second consecutive quarter with six-digit enrollment, following the all-time record of 110,940 students that was set last fall.
Moultrie Technical College’s (MTC) full-time equivalent enrollment in Colquitt, Tift, Turner and Worth counties hit the same 26 percent growth milestone this winter.
The slow economy continues to push the surge in enrollment as thousands of new students seek to improve their job outlook, because they are either out of work or under-employed. The result is significantly higher enrollment numbers across every age group:
Over 40: increased by 43% to 18,726 students
36 - 40: increased by 40% to 9,808 students
31 - 35: increased by 30% to 11,639 students
26 - 30: increased by 30% to 16,137 students
21 - 25: increased by 23% to 26,202 students
The under 21 age group, traditionally made up of students who enter the technical colleges following graduation from high school, or because they either transferred from the university system or entered the workforce for a short time, also increased by 12 percent to 27,036 students. This age group continues to be the largest represented at Moultrie Tech as well.
MTC’s total enrollment for winter quarter, at 2,429 students, has seen an 11.3 percent increase from winter 2009. This number also eclipses Moultrie Tech’s fall quarter figures which represented the highest in the school’s 45-year history.
MTC still remains the only technical college in the system to experience 12 consecutive years of fall quarter enrollment growth.
“The Technical College System of Georgia is again proving its immense value to the people of Georgia as the education resource for anyone who wants to gain the kinds of skills and knowledge that result in great careers, even in today’s difficult economy,” said TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson.
“Everyone, from recent high school graduates to Georgians looking to retrain and retool for new jobs, enjoy equal access to some of the best technical college programs in the country. It’s a great education at a low tuition that’s made all the more affordable by easy access to college grants.”
Annual tuition for a full load of courses at a TCSG college averages about $2,400 plus fees. More than 80 percent of all TCSG students receive financial aid that significantly reduces that cost, mostly in HOPE and Pell grants that require no student debt after graduation.
Approximately 90 percent of MTC’s students are receiving the HOPE grant or scholarship, and 59 percent receive the Pell grant.
Georgia’s 28 technical colleges offer 600 programs that lead to in-demand jobs and careers. Almost 40 percent of all TCSG students are enrolled in healthcare programs, and thousands more are readying themselves for careers in areas ranging from aerospace, energy and the environment, and life sciences to more traditional trades like electronics, automotive technology and cosmetology.
