Georgia Lorenz, President, Seminole State College of Florida

Seminole State College of Florida is sharpening its focus on workforce readiness, economic impact, and affordability as Central Florida’s talent needs evolve. Over the past 12 to 18 months, the college has earned national recognition from the Aspen Institute, expanded cutting-edge programs in areas like autonomous vehicles, cybersecurity, and AI, and deepened its role as a partner to regional employers and school districts. “Being a learning partner for career success means listening closely to what employers need and building programs around those needs,” Georgia Lorenz, president of Seminole State College of Florida, told Invest:.

What have been the most significant milestones for Seminole State over the past 12 to 18 months?

Our big headline this past year was being named a Top 10 finalist for the Aspen Institute’s Prize for Community College Excellence. The process starts with about 1,000 community colleges, the Top 150 are invited to apply, then it narrows to 25 semifinalists, and then to 10 finalists. We were honored to go to Washington, D.C., for the awards ceremony. We did not win the overall prize, but being in the Top 10 puts us in the Top 1% of state and community colleges in the nation, and I’m incredibly proud of our faculty and staff who made that possible.

I’m especially proud because the Aspen Prize focuses on outcomes that matter most to our students and community: completion and graduation rates, successful transfer, workforce placement, and the quality of the student experience, both in the classroom and in the support they receive. As part of the review, the Aspen team spent two days on campus conducting a site visit and interviewing around 60 people, including internal stakeholders and external partners. We were also just invited to apply again for the 2027 prize, so we are back in the game. 

On top of that, one of our mathematics professors, Grace Nasnas, was named the Association of Florida Colleges Professor of the Year, which is a statewide honor. That individual recognition reinforces the quality of teaching happening in our classrooms every day.

How are you partnering with employers to develop career-focused programs and technical talent?

Being a learning partner for career success means listening closely to what employers need and building programs around those needs. One example is our partnership with the city of Altamonte Springs, Florida State College at Jacksonville, and the companies Beep and Holon. Beep deploys autonomous vehicles and Holon builds them, and Altamonte Springs has deployed an autonomous vehicle service called Crane Rides that circulates around the mall.

Through that work, they realized they had the vehicles but not enough technicians to service them, so we are partnering on an autonomous vehicle technician training program, with Florida State College at Jacksonville taking the lead and Seminole State as a partner. 

We also recently earned the National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense designation, which runs through the academic year 2030. Our faculty have worked hard to align our cybersecurity curriculum with industry needs, which is challenging because the technology moves so quickly.

In addition, we have secured several statewide grants that reinforce our workforce mission. The state’s Workforce Capitalization Grant is unique because it allows us to remodel space, which many grants don’t. We received a Workforce Capitalization Grant of $780,995 focused on expanding career and technical education for dual enrollment students, who earn high school and college credit at the same time at no cost to their families. Those dollars allow us to increase opportunities for high-school students to earn industry certifications in areas such as CompTIA Security, light-duty hybrid and electrical vehicle specialization and cybersecurity. That gives students a chance to test potential career pathways while earning credentials that signal to employers that they have real skills. 

We also received a Job Growth Grant to establish the NextGen Workforce Development Institute to support the Space Coast. Through conversations with industry leaders there, we heard needs ranging from welding to specific certifications that prepare students to work on projects such as refurbishing rockets for multiple uses. In all of these efforts, the theme is the same: align programs with employer demand and prepare students for high-skill, high-demand roles.

How are you quantifying Seminole State’s broader economic impact on the region?

All 28 Florida state colleges recently invested in an economic impact study of the system as a whole and of each individual college. We partnered with Lightcast, which has been doing this kind of work for about 40 years, to analyze the 2023–24 student cohort. For Seminole State, the study showed $1.1 billion in added income from our students and alumni, plus $129.9 million in operational spending. Altogether, our total annual impact is $1.3 billion, which supports the equivalent of 14,615 jobs in our region. One of the most important findings is the return on investment for students: for every dollar a student invests, they receive $6.10 in return over their working lives. 

Having that kind of data helps people understand the value we provide as part of the Florida College System and as an individual institution, not only in terms of education but also socioeconomic mobility.

How are you sustaining affordability and expanding financial support for students?

Affordability is one of our core commitments. The Florida College System, including Seminole State, has not raised tuition and fees in 13 years. That is a strong commitment from the state to keep higher education accessible, and we rely on our partnership with the legislature and the governor to continue supporting the system while we keep tuition and fees flat. We administer millions of dollars in federal financial aid, but we also benefit tremendously from local philanthropy. 

Our Foundation for Seminole State College awards about $1.3 million in scholarships annually, thanks to generous support from individuals, organizations and companies that invest in our students. We have strong partnerships with groups such as the Private Business Association of Seminole County, which recently awarded scholarships, and Rotary Clubs that fund Seminole State-dedicated scholarships. 

Our community sees the results we produce, hires our alumni, and knows that our graduates are ready to work, which motivates them to invest. For example, within one year of graduation, 95% of our Associate in Science students are either working in their field or continuing their education in that field. That level of success reinforces the value of supporting our students financially.

How are you modernizing technology and integrating AI while keeping programs aligned with industry needs?

On the infrastructure side, we rely heavily on grants and corporate partnerships to make initial investments in equipment and technology. For example, we secured a second round of Perkins Equipment Update and Modernization Grant funding, which allowed us to purchase robotic arms for our mechatronics and robotics program. It can be challenging to keep up with the pace of change, but we have been able to find ways, and our corporate partners want us to have the latest technology so students are trained on what they will see in the workplace. 

On the curriculum side, every program has an industry advisory board made up of leaders in that field. They review our curriculum, work with our faculty, and sometimes host faculty on site to see firsthand what skills will be expected of future employees. That feedback loop is critical, especially as technologies such as AI transform industries. We created an AI task force with multiple charges, including ensuring that students are ready to work with AI when they graduate.

We offer an AI certificate that serves as an introduction to the field, and across the curriculum our faculty are integrating AI in ways that make sense for their disciplines. In our healthcare programs, for instance, hospitals are starting to use AI to improve patient safety, so we make sure nursing, respiratory therapy and other students are learning those tools and software so they are job-ready on day one. It is a constant challenge to keep up, but by relying on grants, partnerships and industry guidance, we are doing our best to stay ahead of the curve.

What are your top priorities and goals for Seminole State over the next two to three years?

One of our top goals is to add an instructional building to our Altamonte Springs campus. We received a $4.4 million appropriation in 2023 for design and development and $10 million last year toward a total project cost of $60 million. I am continuing to work with the legislature to secure the remaining appropriations so we can complete the building. That project is tied directly to our goal of expanding healthcare programs to meet regional workforce needs. We want to double our nursing program and expand respiratory therapy, physical therapist assistant, pharmacy technician and other healthcare programs. We stay in close contact with our hospital partners and their HR teams to ensure we are aligned with their needs. 

For example, Orlando Health and AdventHealth have emphasized their need for more medical lab technicians, because even if they have enough doctors and nurses, patients cannot get the care they need if lab results are delayed. In response, we are launching a medical lab technician program this year, and the new instructional building will help us scale those kinds of programs.