CHARLESTON W.Va.
Aspiring college students in southern West
Virginia will soon have one facility that will allow
them access to courses at eight colleges.
The newly built Public Higher Education Center will open its
doors Aug. 20 in Beckley. Dubbed a
higher education mall, the facility will be the first of its kind in West
Virginia.
By putting satellite offices of various state schools under
one roof, center director Tom Acker says costs and confusion will be minimized.
“If students have to reside at a campus in order to get
courses, it adds another five to six thousand dollars a year to the cost of
college,” Acker said. “By developing this educational mall that will
serve four different counties, students can drive there and get an education
but not have the cost of living on campus.”
Students can enroll in classes from New River Community and Technical
College, Southern West Virginia
Community and Technical College, West Virginia University Institute of
Technology, WVU Extension Service, WVU Tech Community and Technical
College, Bluefield State College, Concord
University and Marshall
University.
The students will align themselves with one campus they
intend to pursue a degree from, but if they take classes from other schools,
they can later apply to have those credits transferred.
