Governor Lee has proposed a plan to produce more vocational and technical training opportunities for high school students. Photo provided by the office of the governor.

As a student, individuals may not always keep up with the newest legislative pieces, but Bill Lee, Tennessee’s newly elected governor, has proposed a plan that may interest students everywhere.

Lee has proposed, in his first legislative proposal as governor of Tennessee, a plan to produce more vocational and technical training opportunities for Tennessee high school students. These opportunities will be available to those graduates who may not need or want to go straight into college out of high school.

Lee promised, during his campaign, to work to expand vocational education and so far, he’s sticking to his word.

This endeavor would be funded mainly through revenues from the state’s general fund, but also it would be helped by Tennessee’s Education lottery. The initiative has been named the Governor’s Initiative in Vocational Education or GIVE for short.

The emphasis for this project is proposed to be on apprenticeships and work-based learning, but also on widening career, dual-credit and technical education opportunities at high schools around the state. Currently, high school students can take two dual enrollment courses with tuition and fees paid for by the Dual Enrollment Grant, but Lee hopes to expand this venture to four dual enrollment trade and technical courses covered.

“We have the opportunity to help students discover quality career paths and gain skills that are needed right now in the workforce by emphasizing career and technical education,” said Lee in a news release.

GIVE would allow communities to have funding to build programs that their specific communities need.

“It is time to make sure education in Tennessee embraces multiple pathways to success,” Lee said. “This initiative also puts students in charge of their future by preparing them for a good job right out of high school.”

The Drive to 55 initiative was launched in September of 2013 with the goal of getting 55% of Tennesseans “equipped with a college degree or certificate by the year 2025” according to driveto55.org. One of these initiatives inside the drive is known as Tennessee Promise.

As most recent Tennessee high school graduates know, back in 2014, Tennessee Promise was passed to encourage high schools students to finish high school and pursue higher education. This particular initiative offers seniors two years of free tuition to any community or technical college in Tennessee.

One other initiative under the drive is to encourage adults to go back to school for secondary education. According to driveto55.org, Tennessee Reconnect is the first of its kind in the nation to offer tuition-free community or technical college tuition to adults without an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.

GIVE will be another initiative underneath the Drive to 55 headline, and it could affect Milligan’s enrollment numbers and even the number of transfers that we receive.

“I don’t think making education accessible is ever bad. Milligan will just have to figure out how we play into that in Tennessee,” Kristin Wright, the Head of Admissions at Milligan College explained.

Though free tuition to two-year programs was enacted a few years back, Milligan has not seen any major fluctuations in its enrollment according to Wright.

“The Tennessee Promise initiative has not noticeably affected our enrollment because Milligan tends to draw a separate audience than those who are in those programs,” Wright explained.

“The GIVE initiative is also for a different audience than what Milligan attracts, so it will affect a different audience.”

More information on the GIVE initiative will be available when the governor’s legislative package comes out in the few weeks.

The headline and photo have been changed for accuracy and we apologize for the editorial mistake.