The SWGTC Foundation has helped many students reach their goal of graduating from the college.

For spring semester 2012, which began on Jan. 4, the Southwest Georgia Technical College Foundation awarded over $36,000 in scholarships to 75 Southwest Georgia Technical College (SWGTC) students. The SWGTC Foundation has more than 20 established scholarships and in spring semester 17 were offered. These funds can range from helping with tuition, clinical scrubs, dissection kits, books and much more.

“The SWGTC Foundation is thrilled we had the opportunity to help so many deserving students this semester. We would like to thank all of our donors as many students may not have been able to afford books, tuition, or program related supplies without support from our friends and community partners,” commented Amy Maison, executive director of Institutional Advancement, Marketing and Public Relations.

The Growing Nurses Scholarship was developed by SWGTC to attract more students to the Associate of Science in Nursing Degree program in an effort to help alleviate the critical shortage of nurses in the local community, State of Georgia, and nationwide. Thirty $1000 scholarships will be awarded annually to deserving students who desire a career in nursing and are committed to completing the requirements to obtain an Associate of Science in Nursing Degree. In spring semester 2012, the SWGTC Foundation awarded 11 of the 30 scholarships to deserving students entering the Associate of Science in Nursing Degree program at SWGTC.

The Non-Traditional Scholarship was established to encourage enrollment in and completion of a technical certificate of credit, diploma, or degree in a field typically considered gender-specific. Non-traditional occupations are careers in which less than 25 percent of a gender is represented in the workforce. These careers often pay higher salaries, challenging work, opportunities to develop new skills and advancement potential. Non-traditional careers differ for men and women but, nonetheless, they traditionally offer higher wages, hands-on learning, excellent benefits, more job openings, and job satisfaction. One of these scholarships was awarded for spring semester 2012.

The Lillie Jackson Gregory Memorial Scholarship was established in 2011 in memory of a beloved faculty member at SWGTC. Lillie Jackson Gregory served as the Clinical Coordinator for the Radiologic Technology Program at SWGTC for 23 years before losing her battle with cancer. To honor her memory and her service to SWGTC and the Radiography profession, this scholarship was established in her name with generous donations from family, friends, colleagues and others whose lives she touched. Rising seniors enrolling in the Radiologic Technology degree program are eligible to receive the scholarship in the amount of $500. For spring semester 2012 one deserving student received this scholarship.

In order for someone to further their education, it takes time and money. An education at a two-year institution is typically less expensive than one at a four-year institution; but even with that in mind it can still be hard to afford everything one needs to graduate with a certificate, diploma, or degree. There are a number of scholarships being offered by the SWGTC Foundation for Summer Semester. For information, contact the Institutional Advancement Office at (229) 227-2415.

Summer semester begins May 21. Southwest Georgia Technical College is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia.