Williamsburg Technical College students who participated in the Lottery Tuition Assistance rally at the State House in Columbia included (first row, from left) WTC Dean of Student Services and Financial Aid Dr. Eric Brown from Florence, Rhonda Cantley from Coward, Nanette Jowers from Johnsonville, Sonya Cooper from Kingstree, Wendy Boyington from Scranton, Roger Ginn from Hemingway (back row, from left) WTC Director of Enrollment and Record Services Alexis Wright from Andrews, Marvin Shaw from Greeleyville, Cynthia Miller from Kingstree, Connie Coolman from Johnsonville, Casey Newton of Andrews, Cynthia Howell from Johnsonville, Abbie Moore from Kingstree, Kimberly Driggers from Salters, and WTC President Dr. Cleve H. Cox from Kingstree.

Williamsburg Technical College Students Rally at State House

Twelve Williamsburg Technical College students were among the nearly 300 technical college students from across the state who gathered at the State House on January 27 in a show of support for the South Carolina Lottery Tuition Assistance (LTA) program. The purpose of the gathering was to show that the program makes a difference and illustrate the need for continuing assistance to help make higher education available to all South Carolinians.

Among those attending the rally from Williamsburg Technical College, several expressed their thankfulness for an educational opportunity made possible through LTA.  Wendy Boyington from Scranton recently entered Williamsburg Technical College’s nursing program. “I have had several jobs over the years and was recently laid off,” Boyington says. “As a widow who is self-supporting, I couldn’t have come back to college without the lottery assistance.” Roger Ginn, a Hemingway resident who is now a business student at the College, has been a farmer all of his life, but wanted to do something different, so he enrolled at WTC where lottery tuition assistance made his dream a reality.  Kim Driggers from Kingstree has been employed at Williamsburg First National Bank for years and already has a business degree from Florence-Darlington Tech.  Her military husband was recently mobilized so she decided to seek lottery tuition assistance to help her return to college at WTC and pursue her cosmetology degree to give her a side job as an income supplement.

Nearly 40,000 technical college students have received assistance through the program this year. The maximum award for spring semester 2009 is $900 for eligible full-time students (12 or more credit hours) and $75 per credit hour for eligible part-time students. Recipients must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order for financial aid offices to be able to determine their eligibility for lottery-funded tuition assistance.

According to state law, federal grants and need-based grants will be applied against technical college tuition before lottery-funded tuition assistance will be applied. The law also states that students can only apply lottery tuition assistance toward one certificate, diploma or associate degree program every five years, unless the additional certificate, diploma or associate degree is necessary for progress in a field of study.

Lottery Tuition Assistance award amounts are subject to change each term based on the number of eligible recipients and available funding. Unlike lottery-funded merit scholarships, LTA award amounts are not guaranteed from term to term, creating a challenge for students trying to plan education expenses. Many technical college students work and often also care for families while pursuing their education, which constitutes an even greater need for financial assistance than traditional college students.