DAYTON, Ohio - Community colleges are branching out to old factories, libraries and YMCAs to avoid expensive new construction, attract new students and serve those in out-of-the-way places.
"You're seeing a lot more outreach to reach students, to be more available to them in places where they work," said Claire VanUmmersen, vice president of the Center for Effective Leadership at the American Council on Education.
Recycling existing buildings also saves money for colleges at a time when many face declining funding from state governments. And outlying areas can be a gold mine of untapped students as colleges compete with each other to increase enrollment.
Students are attending college at an abandoned steel mill in Pennsylvania and at an inn next to a historic canal in Ohio. They share digs with a small public library and an insurance agency in Nebraska, where students soon also will take classes at an ice cream parlor.
There are about 1,000 public community colleges in the United States. Of the 530 that responded to a 2005 survey by the American Association of Community Colleges, about 60 percent have multiple campuses, some with as many as 12. About 40 percent offer courses at prisons, 20 percent at religious institutions and 11 percent in shopping centers...
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hat tip: Community Colleges Creating Unusual Branches at The Kept-Up Academic Librarian
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