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by Casey Zanowic
GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Guilford Technical Community College is giving more students the opportunity to pursue higher education thanks to a new expansion to its scholarship program. The Access Amazing Scholarship provides high school graduates in Guilford County with the opportunity to pursue higher education.
Thanks to the Guilford Technical Community College Foundation, $500,000 will be added to the scholarship fund. Dr. Anthony Clarke is the president of GTCC. He said the goal is to remove cost as a barrier to education.
“The idea was — let's identify a pot of money that we can use and say look, come to GTCC. You don’t have to worry about tuition or fees. That sort of takes that off the table if you will," Dr. Clarke said.
The funds are considered a type of "last dollar" scholarship, meaning it helps pay the remaining balance of student tuition, college fees, and course fees once all other grants or scholarships are applied.
“Our students face a lot of obstacles, and we wanted to remove cost as an obstacle," said Dr. Clarke. "So, if we can help our students by paying tuition, course, and college fees then they’ll have money to pay for childcare, transportation, food, and housing.”
The money will also help Guilford County build a skilled employee base.
“If we want to grow economic development but also just provide a better standard of living for everyone in Guilford County, we need to get people educated. Whether it's a two-year degree, four-year degree, or short-term workforce credential, that’s what we need to do," Dr. Clarke said.
The scholarship is available to students who graduated from any Guilford County High School between 2019 and 2023. Students from a public, private, or home-school equivalent in Guilford County; adult high school graduates who were granted diplomas through GTCC and Guilford County Schools; and high school equivalency (HSE/GED) graduates who took courses at GTCC, left, and now wish to return are also allowed to apply.
Clarke hopes the scholarship will inspire people to pursue a degree.
“I would encourage people to take a look. If you stopped out and you want to come back to college, now's the time. If you took a gap year or life just got in the way, now's the time to come back and come to GTCC," he said.
Students must complete the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) and apply for GTCC scholarships each year to be eligible. To maintain eligibility, students must also retain satisfactory academic progress as established by the state and federal government financial aid programs. This includes maintaining at least a 2.0 grade point average. Students must also be continually enrolled in the fall and spring semesters but cannot exceed two fall and two spring semesters.
