Contributed photo

Students, staff and commissioners representing Northeastern Technical College gather on the front steps of the Statehouse in support of LTA funding. Pictured are, from left to right, front row, Hali Larkins and Tiy Peterkin; second row, Tiana Rogers, Amy Lowery and Terry Ritz; third row, Jamar Williams, Rickeia Peterkin, Ronnie Ford, Jane Mollohan and Rep. Dan Bozard, NETC area commissioner for Dillon County; fourth row, Dr. Ron Bartley, president of NETC, Leron Peterkin, dean of Student Services, Dougie Dew and Darin Coleman, Student Support Services coordinator.

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Staff Report

Students and staff from Northeastern Technical College in Cheraw recently joined hundreds of other students from the South Carolina Technical College system at the State House in Columbia to show support and appreciation of the Lottery Tuition Assistance (LTA) program.

The group of more than 300 students represented a fraction of the nearly 330,000 technical college students who have benefited from LTA since its inception 10 years ago.

Speakers for the rally included Darrel Staat, system president; Sen. John Courson, chair, Senate Education Committee; Rep. Phil Owens, chair, Education and Public Works Committee; and Raymond Hudson, an LTA recipient and student at Central Carolina Technical College.

“Today we are putting a face on the impressive numbers the S.C. Technical College System boasts. Each of these more than 300 students present today has their own personal story of how LTA has helped them achieve their education and career goals — goals that are important to our state, that will help build a skilled workforce for our future,” Staat said in his address to the gathered students.

“We appreciate the General Assembly’s foresight in creating this program. Their continued support and consistent funding of Lottery Tuition Assistance is vital to ensuring that a quality higher education is accessible and affordable for all South Carolinians,” he added.

Ronnie Ford, of Bennettsville, was among the group of students from NETC who traveled to Columbia for the rally.

“The LTA program has helped me in my quest to get a degree in Machine Tool Technology, which will further my education and give me an edge in finding that job that best suits my abilities,” Ford said.

The Lottery Tuition Assistance program was created by the General Assembly in 2002 for public two-year institutions. Unlike merit-based lottery-funded aid, award amounts are not guaranteed from semester to semester, and fluctuate based on lottery collections and student demand.

The S.C. Technical College System serves 52 percent of all undergraduate students in the state. According to statistics gathered by the system office, technical colleges educate South Carolinians to live and work in South Carolina: 97 percent of technical college students are South Carolina citizens, and 85 percent choose to work and live in the state after graduation. An average 82 percent of system graduates are placed in a job related to their area of study or continue their education at four-year institution.