HOPE Grant expansion means new opportunities
Recent days have brought a flurry of encouraging news about postsecondary education in Georgia, a trend we would definitely like to see continue.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that not only is fall enrollment in University System of Georgia institutions at a record high for the second straight year, but the statewide graduation rate at USG schools has also shown a dramatic rise. Close to home, Columbus State University’s fall enrollment of 8,452 students also set a record.
Also close to home: Columbus Technical College students will have new opportunities in 2018 for tuition coverage to study in-demand career fields under the HOPE Grant program, thanks to a recent expansion of that fund’s career areas.
As reported by education writer Mark Rice, the HOPE Career Grant program has added five fast-growing career fields — aviation maintenance, automotive tech, distribution-materials management, electrical line work and construction — to the 12 already covered. (Certificates awarded in those areas increased by more than 1,000 over 2016, tracking the state trend in postsecondary education completion rates.)
“The HOPE Career Grant is a phenomenal opportunity for our students,” Columbus Technical College president Lorette Hoover said in a news release announcing the changes in the grant program. “Now even more of our students can have the chance to pursue a career that they are passionate about and knowing their tuition may be covered will help pave the way to their successful futures.”
One of the most familiar refrains in Georgia is that its expanding and diversifying economy will demand ever more highly skilled workers. This kind of investment in talent and ambition is not just promising, but critical.
For those who defend us all
EDITOR’S NOTE: We could not let the weekend pass without this annual tribute:
Since this nation was born, Americans have defended our freedom at risk, and sometimes at the cost, of their lives. They have done this in peacetime — which they go into service knowing is ever fragile — and in hundreds of battles around the world and close to home. Here, in alphabetical order, are just some of them:
Aachen, Algiers, Alsay, An Loc, Antietam, Anzio, Ardennes, Argonne, Ashau Valley, Atlanta, Attu, Avranches, Azizbad. Bastogne, Bataan, Belleau Wood, Biak, Bismarck Sea, Beruit, Bladensburg, Bougainville, Brandywine, Buena Vista, Bull Run, Bunker Hill. Casablanca, Cassino, Cerro Gordo, Chancellorsville, Chapultepec, Charleston, Chateau-Thierry, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Chippewa, Chongjin Reservoir, Chora, Churubusco, Cold Harbor, Coral Sea, Corregidor, Cowpens. Daiquiri, Dak To, Danaheh, Debecka, Desert Storm, Do Ab, Doan, Dutch Harbor.
Eindhoven, El Caney, Empress Augusta Bay. Falaise, Fallen Timbers, Fallujah, Finger Ridge, Finschhafen, Firebase Anaconda, Fort McHenry, Fort Pitt, Fort Sumter, Fredericksburg. Gafsa, Gaine's Mill, Gettysburg, Grenada, Guadalcanal, Guam. Hamburg, Hamhung, Hampton Roads, Hanoi, Horseshoe Bend, Hue, Hurtgen Forest. Iron Horse Mountain, Inchon, Iwo Jima.
Java Sea. Kabul, Kakarak, Kasserine Pass, Kaskaskia, Kennesaw Mountain, Khaz Oruzgan, Khe Sanh, Kings Mountain, Korungal Valley, Kunduz. Lae, Lake Champlain, Lake Erie, Lexington-Concord, Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, Little Big Horn, Luke's Castle, Lundy's Lane. Malvern Hill, Manila Bay, Mekong Delta, Metz, Midway, Mobile Bay, Monmouth, Montreal, Munda, Murfreesboro, Musa Qala. Nasiriyah, New Britain, New Orleans, Nicaragua, Nijmegen, Normandy, North Atlantic, Now Zad.
Okinawa, Old Baldy, Oran, Oriskany. Palau, Palo Alto, Palermo, Panama, Pearl Harbor, Petersburg, Philippine Sea, Pleiku, Ploesti, Pork Chop Hill, Princeton. Queenstown Heights, Quan Trin. Rabaul, Rapido River, Red River, Remagen, Rhine River. Saigon, St. Mihiel, Saipan, Salerno, Sanjin, San Juan Hill, Saratoga, Savo Island, Sayyd Alma Kalay, Schweinfurt, Seven Days, Seven Pines, Shewan, Shiloh, Siberia Hill, Siboney, Spotslvania, Surigao Strait.
Taegu, Taejon, Taku Ghar, Tarawa, Thames River, Ticonderoga, Tippecanoe, Tora Bora, Trenton. Ulithi. Vera Cruz, Verdun, Vicksburg. Wake Island, West Point, White Plains, Wounded Knee. Xuan Loc. Yorktown.
This Veterans Day weekend, please ponder the sacrifices for freedom these names and historic places represent.
This story was originally published November 10, 2017 at 5:23 PM with the headline "HOPE Grant expansion means new opportunities."