Campus in Liberty fills niche of community college

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National College officials spent
$14 million to build an extension to a vacant Belmont Avenue plaza.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

LIBERTY — Displaced worker Ruth Wiesensee believes that a one-year medical specialist diploma program offered by National College is her ticket back as a productive member of the local work force.

Wiesensee, 39, of Youngstown, was the manager of a dollar store on Elm Road when it closed three years ago, leaving her unemployed.

She's had a number of odd jobs since then. "But they don't pay the bills," she said.

When she learned that National College was opening a campus in the Mahoning Valley, she decided to see what it had to offer and enrolled with the first class in September.

Her plan is to get her program diploma, get a job in a medical office and then, down the road, go back to school to continue her education in a medical field.

Wiesensee said she chose National because it is close to home, brand new and about the only college she found to offer a one-year program "to get you going in that field."

Wiesensee may be typical of the target market National saw when it chose to open a campus at 3487 Belmont Avenue.

There is job availability here that provides opportunities for graduates, said Gregory J. Shields, National's regional director of operations for Ohio and Indiana. National, founded in 1886 and based in Virginia, has 24 campuses in five states, including five locations in Ohio. Officials say the school fills the niche of a community college.

National saw the need for a career college here to provide training for those jobs, Shields said.

The college makes it easy for students to enroll, offering eight separate term starts each year, where traditional colleges offer just two, said Patrice F. Cizmar, campus director.

It also offers day and evening classes.

The college helps students learn the substantive information and the behaviors they need in the work force, Cizmar said.

It's filling the niche of a community college, which the Mahoning Valley doesn't have at this time, she said.

The campus has exceeded its initial enrollment projections, she said, noting there are 162 students now and 94 more starting in December.

National spent $1.4 million to build a 17,000-square-foot addition to an existing plaza to bring a campus here, and that doesn't include computer, medical and other equipment, Cizmar said.

The building capacity is about 600 students, but the 43,000-square-foot building next door is empty, she said, hinting that the campus could quickly expand to meet demand.

National offers an alternative to jobs with no upward mobility, Cizmar said.

Upward mobility is just what John Amrich of Hubbard is looking for.

Amrich, who works for a maintenance and janitorial company, has his own small business on the side, installing and repairing computer and telephone equipment and more.

"I can do the work — I just don't have that paper, and today, they require that paper," he said during an open house tour of the campus last week.

Amrich said he's considering pursuing a two-year associate degree in information technology.

He said he's making a living, but he's going to turn 50 this year and wants to improve his long-term economic outlook.

Bunisha Dahn of Youngstown, a 2003 graduate of Chaney High School, said she enrolled in the nursing program at Youngstown State University but didn't like the large class sizes she found in some of her courses.

When National opened, she opted to go after a two-year surgical technology degree and will start classes Dec. 3.

She said she likes that National has class sizes of about 12 students, is close to home and her program of interest requires only the specific courses she will need for a job in that field.

Tuition costs at National, a private, for-profit college, are generally higher than at a state school.

YSU, for example, has an annual tuition fee of $6,700 while a typical associate degree student at National can expect to pay $10,000 a year.

Many pay significantly less than that, Shields said, noting that National offers a variety of grants and scholarships and students are eligible for federal grant assistance.

National also has a business partnership grant program. If a student works for a company that provides tuition assistance, National will match that contribution up to $6,000, Shields said. There are students at this campus getting that benefit now, he added.

National's associate degree and diploma programs are accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, which was founded in 1912 and is listed as a nationally recognized accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education.

Christina Montecalvo and Angela Pickens, both of Warren, toured the campus tour and liked what they saw.

Both made appointments to come back for admission interviews. Montecalvo said she's interested in the medical assisting program while Pickens is targeting business administration and computer technology.

The small classes and the amount of time it takes to complete the programs were major draws for them, both said.

gwin@vindy.com

Sunday, November 18, 2007