Junior nursing major
Columbia College
The news conference was an opportunity to express support for the governor’s proposal to increase lottery funding for needs-based scholarships, including the S.C. Tuition Grants Program, for which he recommends an increase of $10 million. Please click here to view the recording of the news conference.
Introduced by Converse College President Krista Newkirk, Moultrie explained that “S.C. Tuition Grants allow me to focus on my future plans and worry less now about funding for college.“
After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees and gaining experience as a travel nurse, the junior nursing major’s long-term plan is to open her own business – Moultrie Midwifery and Gynecology.
“One important thing that Zy’Keria said is that students need to find the place – college, university, or technical college – that works best for them,” said Dr. Rusty Monhollon, president and executive director of the S.C. Commission on Higher Education.
Moultrie was one of five student advocates representing South Carolina’s private and public colleges and universities and the state’s two-year technical college system at the Feb. 17 news conference.
“Sixty percent of students – more than 12 thousand students – attending South Carolina’s private colleges and universities receive S.C. Tuition Grants,” Newkirk said. “Many of our neediest students also work one or two jobs – in addition to going to school – simply to make ends meet. Some even send money home to help family.”
Newkirk noted that the governor’s proposed lottery funding increase for the S.C. Tuition Grants program will put another $780 in the pockets of SCICU’s neediest students. “That will make a huge difference,” Newkirk added.
“If we want to grow South Carolina and support future economic development, then we have to increase access to higher education,” Newkirk said. “Helping our students right now is not only the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do for South Carolina’s future.”