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Registration for Spring Semester Begins at SCC

Submitted by: Tiffany Hughes on Dec 08, 2009 at 2:18 pm Tagged with: Cherokee County, College, enrollment growth, Health Care, Higher Education, horticulture, machine tool, Spartanburg, surgical technology, teacher education, tuition, Union, Welding Source: Spartanburg Community College

Spartanburg, S.C. – As the fall semester with a record enrollment growth of more than 20 percent draws to a close, Spartanburg Community College is now registering students for the 2010 spring semester.

Individuals interested in applying to the college for the spring semester that begins in January can apply in person at the SCC central campus in Spartanburg, the Tyger River Campus in Duncan or the Cherokee County Campus in Gaffney. An online application is also available at www.sccc.edu.

With dramatic increases in core curriculum classes such as English and math, college officials have already planned additional classes in these areas for the spring semester. During the fall semester, enrollment in math classes grew 26 percent and social sciences enrollment grew 31 percent. To help meet the demand, the college has also increased the number of online and hybrid classes (blended class with online and classroom components) and created flexible start dates for many courses.

“Many of our students have full-time jobs so they need flexible class options,” said Kelley Jones, SCC’s executive assistant to the president.
“To meet that need, the college now offers eight different terms within each semester with staggered start and end dates. We call these FlexStart terms, and they help students work college classes into their busy schedules.”

Other programs such as SCC’s therapeutic massage certificate program offer classes entirely on the weekend so that students with full-time jobs can attend college.

Many of the college’s health care programs stay at capacity each semester. “Currently we have 2,025 students enrolled at SCC that plan to enter a health care program once they complete pre-requisite courses such as English, math and biology,” said Dr. Rita Melton, dean of health and human services at SCC. “However, enrollment in several of these programs is limited by the number of clinical sites with the capacity to accept our students for the required clinical rotations that are part of their course work.”

Five of SCC’s 18 health sciences programs - medical assisting, nursing, respiratory care, radiologic technology and surgical technology - have weighted admissions criteria which selects students based on their individual classroom performance, community involvement and other factors to ensure that the most qualified students have the opportunity to enter these programs. SCC’s health care programs can currently seat 536 curriculum students each semester.

Many of the college’s industrial programs such as welding and machine tool technology were at capacity for the fall term. SCC’s horticulture program experienced a 46 percent spike in enrollment this fall and the college’s teacher education programs currently have 200 students pursuing an associate degree that will transfer seamlessly to USC Upstate’s School of Education.

To meet demands for the fall semester, the college hired seven additional full-time faculty members and three more new hires are planned for the spring semester. The college also hired 22 percent more adjunct instructors in the languages and humanities departments than were hired for the fall 2008 semester.

“The growth at SCC has been tremendous,” said Jones. “We know that in this economy, people are turning to college for the training and skills they need to get a good job. Our goal is to make sure that every student is served and that each one has access to the classes and resources they need to earn a degree and find a good job.”

Full-time (12 or more credit hours) students from Spartanburg and Cherokee County will pay $1,697 for the semester. Full-time students from Union County will pay $1,956, that’s $165 less than the fall semester. The Spartanburg County Commission for Technical and Community Education voted to reduce tuition for Union County residents beginning in January 2010 due to the opening of SCC’s Quick Jobs Development Center in Union. The new tuition structure is now in effect.