Orange County Evaluates Durham Tech Scholarship Program

Orange County is preparing to commit $50,000 in scholarship money to students who are looking to earn a degree from Durham Tech.

The current plan for the program is to award 50 Orange County students, who have graduated in the past year, $1,000 scholarships, but commissioner Mark Dorosin said he was in favor of expanding it to include all Orange County residents.

“I don’t know if it’s too late now, but I would certainly be interested in saying ‘if you’ve lived in Orange County for some amount of time and you want to go,” he said.

The scholarship was based on a similar type of program set up Durham County and is meant to give students a means to create economic opportunity.

“It would look at young people,” said commissioner Renee Price. “Target them, so they’re not out on the street with nothing to do or working at Hardee’s or Burger King or whatever it is.”

But an expansion of the program can be an opportunity for more widespread economic development.

“We’re trying to build up an Orange County work force,” said commissioner Barry Jacobs. “And encouraging people to go to Durham Tech to get those skills, we will be that much more attractive.”

Any change to the program would have to be done before the formal budget is approved at the end of the month.

County manager Bonnie Hammersley said the commissioners do have the power to change any aspects of the program they choose before the budget is approved.

“Because of the timing, the recommendation was based on the (Durham County) model,” she said. “But we can bring that back and we can tweak it and make that determination. It shouldn’t be that difficult.”

According to the Durham Tech website, estimated tuition cost for a semester of 12 credit hours is nearly $1,500.

The scholarship is currently set up to award students on a first come, first served basis, which was done to promote inclusivity.

“Durham Tech is not doing need-based because that requires an application,” Price said. “If you’re under 21, your parents would have to fill out an application form and they may not want to because they’re immigrants.”

The county manager has been directed to reach out to Durham Tech to discuss the possible changes to the program.

The county commissioners will formally approved the budget June 21.