Rotary Club Savannah East provides gift to fund GED Testing for Adult Literacy students

#1290 | June 28, 2012

SAVANNAH – The Rotary Club of Savannah East has given Adult Education at Savannah Technical College $3,000 to fund scholarships for needy students to cover the cost of GED testing. The funds are proceeds from a spring fundraiser “Lip-Sync-a-licious for Literacy” that also supported the Live Oak Library’s Summer Reading Program and Royce Learning Center.

     Says STC Adult Literacy Executive Director Jermaine Whirl, “This generous support comes at a great time for our students, as they face increased testing fees.” Beginning July 1, GED testing fees will increase to $32 per test (from $19) with the full battery of tests costing $160 (from $95). This gift will supplement other private funds used to provide GED testing assistance for some of the many students who test annually.

      Data from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics continue to show the importance of earning the GED. The unemployment rate for those with no HS diploma or GED credential is almost six percent higher; their income is approximately $10,000 per year less. And, on average, households headed by a high school graduate accumulate ten times more wealth than households headed by a high school dropout.

      In Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia Office of Adult Education is the statewide provider of the GED test. More than 1.2 million adults in Georgia need a GED diploma; in 2011, almost 28,000 people took the GED test in Georgia and more than 19,000 passed. All Georgians who pass the GED test get a $500 HOPE voucher to help pay the cost of college enrollment.

     Savannah Tech’s Adult Education serves those who need to improve their basic literacy and math skills, improve their oral and written English, practice for the GED test to attain a high school equivalence degree, and prepare for community college or technical education. The academic training provided by STC’s Adult Education prepares students to apply to college and improve career readiness. Savannah Technical College teaches adult education classes in Bryan, Chatham, Effingham and Liberty Counties with multiple locations in each community including at the College’s campus locations in Savannah, Rincon and Hinesville.

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For More Information Contact:
Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512
ashaffer@savannahtech.edu