Georgia’s technical colleges saw the single largest enrollment increase in the state’s history last fiscal year.

Mike Light, spokesman for the Technical College System of Georgia, says enrollment at the state’s 26 technical colleges jumped 22 percent to 190,842 in the fiscal year that ended June 30. That shattered the record set the previous year by 34,000 students.

Technical colleges also saw a big increase in the number of students who qualify for federal assistance — from 58,000 to nearly 90,000.

The surge was fueled in part by the by laid-off workers seeking training in other fields and by under-employed workers looking to change professions.

Northwestern Technical College has stated that their enrollment is up over 20% for the year.