Local colleges seem to be booming
Published 12:19 am Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Winston Churchill said the most important thing about education is appetite. Thanks to many students’ hunger for education, local colleges are “feeding appetites” and reaping the benefits in increased enrollment.
Gwendolyn Moore, director of enrollment for Concordia College Selma, said its success as a college is due to its small campus and personal relationships between staff and students.
“We’re a small college,” Moore said. “So we have that one-on-one with students, and teachers will go out of their way to help students.”
Christine Weerts, director of development and communications at Concordia College, said Concordia has experienced “unprecedented growth” in the last year.
“Since 2009, fall enrollment has grown by 10 percent,” Weerts said. “The total number of students is about 653.”
Moore added Concordia’s campus in Selma is the only historically black college and university out of the 10 total campuses in the Concordia system, which is unique.
“We’re the only one in the South,” Moore said. “We’re all over the map recruiting by word of mouth in seven foreign countries and all 50 states. We also have a soccer coach who is from Trinidad that helps us in recruiting international students.”
Moore said its open enrollment program, which allows students to get into college with minimum requirements, is helpful to those seeking a higher education.
“Students come here for a second chance,” Moore said. “Students are known by their name and not by a number. We offer an associate’s of arts degree and a bachelor of science degree in both elementary and early childhood education.”
Donitha Griffin, dean of students at Wallace Community College-Selma, said the influx of students over the last year has prompted the school to add more programs to its curriculum.
“We’ve seen about a 3 to 5 percent increase,” Griffin said. “With more and more jobs requiring more education and higher levels of skill, people are realizing that a high school diploma is no longer enough. We’ve opened up more programs — like criminal justice and night classes in industrial maintenance and masonry, and online classes in nursing.”
Griffin said Wallace has experienced tremendous growth and is expanding its online classes and website portal for easier access. The campus continues to target area high school freshman.
“We’re working with superintendents from Dallas, Perry and Lowndes counties to set up early college and readiness programs,” Griffin said. “We want to introduce students to different types of careers and pathways, starting from the beginning.”
Brittany McGee, admissions counselor for Marion Military Institute, the nation’s oldest two-year military college, said students’ come to MMI for the “whole body” education experience, with academics as well as athletics available.
“Students do not have to be in the military or have an obligation to go into the military when they come here,” McGee said. “When students leave here, they have leadership skills, discipline, character, time management and are more competitive in the job market.”
Selma University admissions personnel were unavailable for comment.