Upstate Giving, May 18, 2020

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Two anonymous donors funded the $200 registration fee for all 35 Greenville Technical College nursing graduates to take the licensing exam required to begin working as professionals.

Funding for the National Council Licensure Examination was paid because the donors wanted to help the next group of frontline health care workers get certified and ready to help patients, according to a news release. It was the donors who approached the Greenville Tech Foundation about the $7,000 gift.

Graduates went to the college on May 14 and picked up their gift certificates in the parking lot of the nursing building, where they spent two years working toward the associate degree, as their instructors held up signs and cheered for them, the release said.

Greenville Technical College nursing graduates earn high pass rates on the licensure exam, the release said. In 2019, for example, the Greenville Tech pass rate was 95.48%, higher than the statewide pass rate of 90.5% and the U.S. pass rate of 88.18%.

As many health care organizations, especially larger hospital systems, prefer hiring nurses who have earned bachelor’s degrees, Greenville Technical College has partnered with several four-year colleges and universities to develop transfer agreements.

“We are extremely grateful to the anonymous donors who have done something positive in the midst of a pandemic,” said Ann Wright, vice president for advancement with the Greenville Tech Foundation, said in the news release. “Nurses are making a tremendous difference for all of us these days, and their heroic efforts should be rewarded. This donation helps those who will soon be ready to serve on the front lines.”