n last winter’s issue of this publication, I told you a story – one that continues to mean a lot to me – in part because I feel it is an important part of the history of our system, and I wanted to be sure that all of you were familiar with it. That story is the Nehemiah story, the one about staying focused on our mission and our goals. Well, it came to mind again as I considered that I must discuss with you a situation that is much in the news all over our state these days. By now, everybody knows that something must be done to address the impending crisis with HOPE. But it’s difficult to find agreement as to what that something is.

Most people are familiar with the HOPE Scholarship program; it is the future of the HOPE Grant that many of you are probably a bit concerned about. Let me review a few facts for you. First, the benefits from the HOPE Grant are real and measurable. Fifty-one percent of all students served by HOPE Grants and Scholarships are technical college students, but only 26% of the funds are used for these students. However, most HOPE Grant money goes to students attending the state’s technical colleges. Because most HOPE Grants are used in the technical college system, our exemplary performance metrics are in part a testimony to the success of the HOPE Grant program. Last year alone, 76% of the graduates from our technical college programs received the HOPE Grant. What benefit does Georgia gain by this spending? We gain qualified workers filling high-demand jobs.

For one example, consider the graduates of our technical colleges last year. 98.6% either went to work or went on to continue their education. Consider, too, the jobs they filled: the top 10 certifications included Patient Care Assisting, Emergency Medical Technician, Phlebotomy Technician and Certified Nurse Assistant. With the national crisis in healthcare, these jobs are critically important, and they are good jobs, jobs that can provide a bright future for our graduates as they support the businesses we serve.

As you may know, as a member of the HOPE Scholarship Commission, I have been close to the study of all the various issues being considered. We issued our final report during the second week of November, The Commission is in the process of final review of the recommendations. We will post the link as soon it is made available. I think these recommendations will help guarantee the viability of HOPE so that it can continue to guarantee, far into the future, the tuition support it was designed to supply. One thing I discovered during the commission’s work is that a lot of people think that the growth of the technical colleges is because of the HOPE program. The HOPE program has been incredibly valuable for students and for people who need training. It has not driven the growth of the technical colleges. I can show you the growth curves for the five years before HOPE and then continuing on for the ten years since, and you can’t see a perturbation on the curve. The foundation was strong and enrollment was increasing at an exponential rate before HOPE came on the scene.

That growth is attributable to customer responsiveness, to the business partnerships that are a cornerstone of our system. Providing programs that people and businesses need and then doing so extraordinarily well: That is what has made our technical college system what it is today. However, the HOPE program is extremely important to thousands of technical college students; it’s essential that we preserve the financial integrity of this program.

Our technical college system's 2003 Leadership Conference included an important Legislative Forum. Shown above from left to right: Rep. Richard Royal (D-Camilla), Rep.Ann Purcell (D-Rincon), Rep. DuBose Porter (D-Dublin), Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah), Sen. Jack Hill (R-Reidsville), Sen. Bill Hamrick (R-Douglasville), Rep.Terry Coleman (D-Eastman), Moderator Sonny Dixon at the podium.