Licking County Offers a Trio of College Choices
beth eden house, central ohio technical college, dale knobel, denison university, education, licking county, ohio state university, swasey chapel,
If you’re pursuing higher education in Licking County‚ you’re certainly not alone. And with three colleges in the area‚ students in search of an advanced degree will find lots of ways to achieve their goals.
Nationally ranked Denison University continues to attract students from around the country to its campus‚ while Central Ohio Technical College and Ohio State University – Newark are expanding both classroom offerings and the classrooms themselves to meet growing demand.
Regardless of the institution‚ the emphasis is on keeping education affordable and available.
“We’re fortunate because of the tremendous support we get from our alumni‚” says Dale Knobel‚ Denison’s president. “We’ve been able to steward those gifts well in our endowment‚ so we can make sure that Denison is an affordable possibility for the young people we admit. We’re constantly raising resources to make sure that’s possible.”
Over at Central Ohio Technical College‚ several efforts are under way to reach out to new students and offer more to the current population. Last summer‚ the school announced final plans for its Knox Campus‚ located in a former movie theater on Main Street in Mount Vernon‚ giving the school a permanent home there.
Classes also now are being offered in Pataskala in a variety of locations‚ including several churches and high schools.
All this comes on the heels of record-breaking enrollment for the school. Almost 3‚200 students were enrolled for classes during fall 2006 at COTC’s Newark‚ Coshocton‚ Mount Vernon and Pataskala locations. Students from 42 of Ohio’s 88 counties were represented‚ according to Alice Hutzel-Bateson‚ director of marketing and public relations.
At the same time‚ Ohio State University – Newark also saw enrollment increases‚ with 2‚310 students enrolled for the fall 2006 quarter. That’s up 5.8 percent from the same time in 2005 and a whopping 43 percent from 10 years ago. OSUN’s racial and ethnical mix has been increasing as well‚ with 11.6 percent of the student body now comprised of minority groups‚ up from 4.6 percent in 1996.
Going forward‚ a new strategic plan calls for additional housing opportunities‚ reflecting the school’s swelling population of both in- and out-of-state students. Currently‚ 180 students are housed on the main campus in the Newark Residence Hall‚ and plans call for developing facilities for another 120 residents either there or elsewhere on campus.
With a combination of two- and four-year programs available‚ the area’s academic institutions are finding themselves in a good place to meet the area’s higher-education needs. Now the trick will be to continue developing physically and academically while keeping costs under control – a daunting but achievable task‚ according to Knobel.
“We want to provide the education experience as efficiently as we possibly can‚ and it’s a challenge for all of us‚” he says. “Scholarships and financial aid make it possible for a lot of students to attend our school and others‚ and it gives us the opportunity to have students from different socio-economic backgrounds‚ races and personal experiences. That’s exactly what you want to have on a college campus‚ and it’s what we’re working for.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Greg Emens
