SC Governor to allocate $17 million in COVID relief funds for technical college tuition
COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster says he wants to spend the last $17 million of his COVID-19 Education relief money to provide scholarships to cover the cost of tuition and required fees at any technical college in South Carolina.
According to McMaster, “South Carolina must be proactive in addressing the labor shortage. This funding will take on the crisis head-on by providing thousands of South Carolinians with the skills needed to thrive in a number of high-demand careers,”. “With this investment of $124 million into our most important resource – our people – we can ensure that South Carolina will have the workforce needed to attract further jobs and investment from companies worldwide.”
The Governor’s office says any adult or recent high school graduate in South Carolina will be eligible. Scholarship funds may only be used for associate degrees or industry credentials in high-demand careers like manufacturing, health care, computer science and information technology, transportation distribution and logistics, or construction.
Scholarship recipients, who will total approximately 15,000, will be required to maintain a 2.0 grade point average and complete one of the following requirements:
- Complete 100 hours of voluntary time to a nonprofit or public-service organization; or
- Are employed; or
- Take a financial literacy course offered at the technical college.
The program will go into effect on January 1, 2022.
