FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact Lindi Forbes

Director Public Relations

Labette Community College

620-820-1212

 

LCC New Cherokee County Campus

 

The Labette Community College Foundation and Alumni Association recently purchased a property in Cherokee County. The building located at the intersection of Highways 69 and 400 will be leased to Labette Community College for classroom facilities.

 

The College mission – to provide quality learning opportunities in a supportive environment for success in a changing world – is the primary motivation for initiating this expansion. When the Kansas Board of Regents designated educational service areas, Cherokee County was included with Labette County in LCC’s service area. Community College service areas vary depending on their geographic locations. Some have as little as two-county service areas and some have six to 14 counties in their area.

 

"Our new facility will be designed to better serve the students of Cherokee County. It will not only accommodate the current higher education needs of our service area, but with help from the LCC Foundation, our College will be more available to our geographically-bound and financially-challenged public," Dr. George Knox, President of LCC said. “The facility will be designed to ensure a place of learning for future generations of college students.”

 

In the past, LCC has only been able to offer night courses in existing Cherokee County schools. One site that has traditionally had large enrollment numbers in Cherokee County is the Weir Attendance Center. While LCC was pleased to be allowed to utilize the facility, it was not specifically designed for college students, which doesn’t allow for optimal learning conditions.

 

The renovations to the new building will be specific to college students and their learning needs. Furthermore, LCC will be able to offer courses during the day and evening to meet the needs of students. Course offerings will include general education courses and remedial courses. Future plans are to anchor a new Resort Management program in that facility.

 

Historically, Cherokee County has had high unemployment rates, high percentages of people at or below the poverty level, high levels of persons receiving general public and medical assistance and a high percentage of people age 25 and older with less than a high school education. These statistics show a pattern of economic stress. The development of accessible higher education will bring aid to this county. Labette Community College will be providing educational opportunities to some of Kansas’ most disadvantaged residents.

 

In addition to better serving those students, the College expects the new site to be profitable in the next three years. When that happens, more revenue will come back to the main campus for College-wide enhancements. This is an excellent opportunity for LCC because research shows that Kansas Community Colleges that are showing the most growth have satellite campuses.

 

For example, Neosho County Community College, located in Chanute, has a satellite campus in Ottawa. This satellite campus provides accessible education for students in Franklin County, which is part of the NCCC service area. A large percent of NCCC’s total enrollment comes from the Ottawa campus. In fact, recent reports show that credit hours generated at the Ottawa campus equal approximately 450 full-time students.

 

Labette Community College’s expansion into Cherokee County will strengthen the relationship with Pittsburg State University. “Many of the courses we plan to offer will be remedial courses, which PSU doesn’t offer. But many students need these basic courses to prepare them to pass placement tests that are required before taking college-level courses,” said Knox. “We will be able to prepare students for a direct entry into college coursework.”

 

Satellite campuses do more than create additional credit hours to boost enrollments, they provide a much needed service to Kansas residents; accessible higher education. Community colleges, like Labette Community College, are providing necessary workforce training and general education courses. Providing more locations for college courses and making higher education more convenient for rural students is important for the economic development of Cherokee and Labette Counties as well as the state.

 

In fact, the latest study commissioned by the Kansas Association of Community College Trustees showed that Labette Community College’s economic impact was estimated to have a total direct impact of approximately $8,000,000. In other words, more than eight million dollars of the county’s economy was a direct result of spending by LCC, its students, its employees, and visitors to its campus from outside the service area.

 

“We look forward to educating more people and helping our service area grow economically,” said Knox.