Shawnee Community College Keeps Looking Up

2/19/10

ULLIN - When it comes to student enrollment, Shawnee Community College keeps looking up. The college announced today that its spring semester numbers rose slightly higher than 14 percent.

The spring semester climb follows a fall semester jump that was the fourth largest in the state at 21 percent. And all of this is being accomplished in the poorest and most rural community college district in the state.

"Many of our students have to drive long distances to our campus," said Dr. Larry Peterson. "We don't have nearby access to large communities or a university to draw students from. Our students aren't coming here because of convenience, they are coming here because they believe in what this college offers them."

Zach Price of Thebes agrees. He said he chose Shawnee Community College because he is convinced it will give him the educational foundation he needs to succeed at Ole' Miss (The University of Mississippi.)

In addition, Price received the Edward M. Smith and Betty Smith Scholarship, which, he said, "clinched the deal" in deciding where to go. (The Smiths raised over $100,000 last year for SCC scholarships.)

It was scholarship money that opened the way for Emily Ferguson of Anna and Jim Lynch of Goreville to also attend SCC.

Lynch's goal is to become a registered nurse; Ferguson's is to become a cosmetologist. Both are currently SCC students.

When Peterson took the helm of the college in December of 2007, he began steering the college in the direction of growth. He reached out to alumni and generated new supporters for the college and initiated an outreach to the college's five-county district to "become more things to more people" than any other community college in the state.

"There were those who said we couldn't grow the enrollment at Shawnee the way we have," Peterson said. "I've had a strong team behind me, pushing me even when I had doubts."

Peterson said the college's next big hurdle is overcoming possible state funding constraints that could impede growth. "It's easy to find fault - the state is not paying enough or we can't do this or that - but I'd rather focus on finding a way," Peterson said. "Somehow we will keep looking up. Our students are depending on it."