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Georgia bill would make technical‑college dropout‑recovery program permanent, narrow focus to older learners
Summary
House Bill 1293 would remove the pilot label from a Technical College System of Georgia program that helps people earn high‑school diplomas, add a statutory definition of 'wraparound services' and route funding through a formula. The measure shifts younger students (16–17) toward 'completion schools' and targets 18–22‑year‑olds for expanded supports.
Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones told the House Higher Education Committee that House Bill 1293 would take a pilot program for technical‑college dropout recovery and put it into state code with changes intended to solidify funding and services. "We want to embed that into the program, for counseling and that sort of thing," Jones said, describing a statutory definition of "wraparound services" the bill would add.
The bill removes the pilot designation and authorizes the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) to roll the program out statewide for older learners. Jones said the program would be refocused on students aged about 18 to 22 and would be funded through a formula rather than repeated annual requests to the Appropriations Committee. "It will be added to the formula to offer some of these wraparound services," she said.
TCSG staff said the program differs from GED offerings by enabling participants to earn a high‑school diploma while also pursuing technical certificates or an associate degree. "This allows us to do a little bit of wraparound services to make sure those students who have, for whatever reason, gotten to the age of 18 without a high school diploma can come to one of our technical colleges... and come out of the back end with a high school diploma as opposed to a GED," a TCSG representative told the committee.
On younger students, Jones said 16‑ and 17‑year‑olds currently enrolled would be allowed to "learn out" of existing sites through 2028; the legislation anticipates completion schools — a public consortium model funded primarily through QBE — becoming more widely available in the 2027–28 school year and serving most students in that age group. Jones said completion schools are "public" and often operated as consortia of school systems with their own selected superintendent, and that some districts already operate similar programs.
Committee members pressed for details about who would qualify and how services such as ESOL and IEP accommodations would be handled. A committee member who described a personal experience with an IEP asked whether those plans would carry with students to technical‑college programs. Jan Jones deferred to TCSG, and the agency representative said technical colleges provide accommodations and special‑populations services but that IEPs do not always transfer directly from K–12 to postsecondary settings.
TCSG told the committee the current program serves roughly 900 students statewide, with a sizeable portion aged 17–18; most participants complete the program in roughly an 18‑month window rather than a multi‑year trajectory. The committee discussed allowing exceptions or appeals where a completion school is not available locally, and members asked for more information about completion‑school locations and the proposed funding formula.
The committee did not take a final vote on HB 1293. Members said they would hold a second hearing to review technical changes and additional materials before moving the measure forward.
