Published: October 12, 2008 11:04 pm         

College close to home sees growth

Jamie Dalton, 18, doesn’t require sophisticated studies or clever advertising to convince her that attending college close to home can save money and increase the prospects of graduating with a degree. In fact, she’s living proof of the admonition to be true to your school.

The Crab Orchard woman graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School last spring. While contemplating her choice of an institution of higher learning, her thoughts initially drifted toward Marshall University or Concord University. Those were appealing, but she settled on New River Community and Technical College in Beckley for various reasons.

“I wanted to go to Concord because they’re known for their teaching program,” said Dalton, a teaching major and aspiring college professor.

“To move there, I would have to find a new job, and it would be really tough. I decided that it would make sense for me to stay home rather than go to a larger institution. It’s really affordable.”

In addition to the savings on room and board that Dalton enjoys by living with her parents in Crab Orchard, she earns money by working 20 hours per week in a work-study program at the school. Both help offset the already reasonable tuition at New River, and the school coordinates her work schedule around her class schedule.

Dalton also loves the small size of the classes. Her freshman speech class, for instance, might include 300 students at Marshall or West Virginia University. Dalton speaks before about 20 classmates.

“The tuition is about $1,300 a semester. That’s great. I can afford that with student loans, and I won’t owe that much when I graduate. The classes are smaller, and the instructors know me by name. You can call them for help.”

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Representatives from New River and Mountain State University confirmed they have witnessed tremendous increases in student population in recent years, especially in the area of online classes.

With gas prices what they are and the economy in uncertain waters, they said, it simply makes good sense — and cents.

“Students can save thousands of dollars a year by staying home instead of paying room and board at colleges, whether in-state or out-of-state,” said Dallas Bragg, MSU’s director of financial aid.

Bragg noted MSU’s room, board and fees are about 65 percent cheaper than at private universities throughout the country and are less expensive than the average four-year public institution.

He also remarked on the financial advantage of online learning, adding his school has witnessed an explosion in enrollment in online courses. MSU’s online student base has grown seven-fold from fall 2006 until this semester.

“We currently have over 740 students in our online modality,” he said. “These students can save on gas, and they can also work during the day — an opportunity that most traditional students don’t have with day classes.”

The price of an MSU online course is considerably less, sometimes 50 percent, than the cost at other online private universities, he added.

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According to Libby Belcher, assistant to New River’s president, her school saw a spike of 33 percent in the student population from fall 2006 to fall 2007. Figures for this semester will be available Oct. 15, but she expects those numbers to have risen again by an estimated 10 percent from last fall.

“If we have a 10 percent increase, then that’s still phenomenal. That’s (the 33 percent boost) kind of unheard of,” Belcher said, adding the student population there is now 2,200 on four campuses.

Belcher shared the story of another student, like Dalton, who found wisdom in attending a smaller school before moving on to a larger university. A Shady Spring High School graduate had dreams of being a doctor and wanted to attend an Ivy League university.

When his application was rejected, Belcher recalled, his parents encouraged him to start out at New River. The would-be physician acquired 36 hours of college credit at New River, maintained a 4.0 grade-point average and was admitted at Cornell University when he reapplied.

“It’s (attending New River) an opportunity for a lot of reasons. He didn’t give up. He was able to stay home and save a lot of money. He now has his dream. Even the 4.0 students aren’t ready sometimes for Marshall University or West Virginia University,” Belcher declared.

“They fall into that party scene and fail out the first year. They have a place to go close to home. They save in dorm fees, they enjoy a small classroom environment, and it gives them an opportunity to grow up that one or two more years. We’re here to help a lot of people, and we do.”

Tracy Evans, New River’s director of high school relations, spoke proudly of the EDGE program, whereby college freshmen can already have a year of classes under their belt by taking what are certified by the state as EDGE courses — Earn a Degree, Graduate Early.

Tuition for a three-hour class at New River, Evans explained, is $345. If a student has taken a keyboarding class in high school, and it meets the approved criteria, she sees no need for him or her to take it again.

“A student can potentially save up to $3,000 in college tuition through no repetition of courses. The tuition here is very affordable. It is $1,374 per semester whether a student takes 12 hours or 18 hours,” Evans noted.

“At Marshall University, the tuition alone is $4,598. We’re very student-oriented. We want to help the student with weekend classes and evening classes, and we’ve actually added more online classes this semester due to issues with gas.”

According to Belcher, the school hosts a diverse array of students from various non-traditional backgrounds, including women, single parents, people who are laid off from their jobs and disabled coal miners. New River’s primary demographic is women between the ages of 25 and 35.

Belcher pointed to the school’s trademark phrase — “your community’s college” — and emphasized the school does not view the larger universities in the state as rivals or competitors. She sees New River as simply spreading the base out and enhancing the numbers of students available to those schools.

“We’re not here to take away students from WVU Tech, Concord or MSU. We go out to high schools and get individuals who never thought they could go to college — C and D students. We work with them in developmental courses and show them that they really can do something in college,” she said.

“We give them that encouragement. They receive a certificate and get their associate’s degree. They can then transfer to those other schools.”

— E-mail:

mhill@register-herald.com