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Delaware Technical & Community College presented its Fiscal Year 2010 budget request to state budget officials Nov. 13, at the Tatnall Building in Dover. President Orlando J. George Jr. updated officials on the college’s capacity challenge and how limited space is undermining the college’s mission to serve Delawareans and meet the needs of Delaware businesses.
This update represents a continuation of the discussions related to the establishment of a Community College Infrastructure Fund to support the growing capital needs of the college throughout the state.
“We have not opened a new classroom facility since 1999. Yet since then, our enrollment has gone up 30 percent and our allied health and nursing enrollment has gone up 160 percent,” George told officials. “Without the ability to expand, students are being denied access, and Delaware businesses won’t have access to the highly qualified graduates they need.”
George acknowledged a difficult economy but emphasized that investment in Delaware Tech yields a high return for the state. “According to the Department of Labor, graduates with associate degrees are averaging $52,000, which is more than twice as much as someone with a little bit of on-the-job training. When you consider that 95 percent of our graduates are Delawareans who will earn higher salaries and increase the tax base, the state also benefits.”
In the presentation, George emphasized the college’s shortage of science labs needed to educate nursing and allied health students in order to support the dramatic growth of the state’s healthcare industry. Thus, the college’s capital budget included a request for partial funding for a health sciences building at each campus.
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