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Local college market robust, but not over-saturated
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
If tri-county residents aren’t getting smarter, they can’t blame a lack of colleges and universities in the area. More than 20 post-secondary educational institutions are spread across the Charleston area and more are on the way.
The region’s reputation for education goes back before the birth of the United States: The College of Charleston, the state’s oldest higher learning institution and the 13th oldest in the country, was founded in 1770. Other educational giants followed, including the Medical University of South Carolina in 1824; The Citadel in 1842; and Charleston Southern University, founded as Baptist College, in 1964.
Trident Technical College, which offers associate’s degrees, certificates and diplomas in a number of course studies, opened in 1964 and blazed the trail for education focused on non-traditional students in the area.
Today the school has approximately 11,500 students, said David Hansen, TTC’s director of public information. Last year, TTC opened a larger facility to accommodate students studying culinary arts and hospitality and tourism management.
“We work really closely with the local business community, and we build our programs around the needs of the local economy,” Hansen said.
Out-of-state universities such as Webster University and Southern Illinois University started Charleston campuses in the 1970s. Today, the area has become a magnet for schools targeting adult students.
Strayer University, headquartered in Arlington, Va., and Troy University, based in Troy, Ala., both opened Charleston campuses in October. The Art Institute of Charleston, which will be part of a collection of 32 Art Institutes across the nation, plans to open in downtown Charleston in April 2007.
What is it about the area that is attracting an increasing number of higher education facilities, and can they all compete? Could the area reach the point of being over-schooled?
“I think we’re going to have to wait and see. In the meantime, it certainly means a consumer has plenty of options,” said Kathy Byrd-Hohn, director of academic support for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at the Charleston Air Force Base.
Byrd-Hohn is also president of the Lowcountry Education Admissions Representatives Network, known as LEARN. The organization works with area businesses to bring education fairs to employees who might be interested in completing or advancing their education.
“Just about any degree program you could want, you can find,” Byrd-Hohn said.
Mike Dakunchak, area coordinator for Limestone College, has participated in LEARN fairs and said that most schools have courses, formats or admissions costs that help set them apart from direct competition.
“I’ve never been in a competitive environment that is actually so friendly,” Dakunchak said. “We have to understand our competition pretty well, but I think there’s a concern for the student. I guess I’ve found the competitive environment in education is less cutthroat than in other industries.”
Limestone College has served the area since 1976, when the Gaffney, S.C., school saw the need for adult learners outside of its main campus location.
While there are far more colleges serving the area now, Dakunchak thinks they will thrive in the midst of the area’s growing population.
“There’s no doubt about it, there’s tons of people moving here and hence the schools and the need for adult education,” Dakunchak said. “I’m from Pennsylvania and I see the influx of my fellow people, the Nor’easters, coming down here, as well as all the people moving to the Summerville area and all the construction going on. It’s a very popular area.”
Philip Owens, senior vice president for business development at the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, thinks there is plenty of demand for higher learning here.
“How can we argue with a more educated work force?” Owens asked.
The tri-county area’s population is growing about 4% a year, Owens said, with another 120,000 residents projected to be living here within the next 15 years.
“I think there are not enough (colleges) yet that we need to be concerned,” Owens said. “They bring such a diversity of offerings. If they were all bringing the same thing, it would be too many. They’ve probably all done a very good demographic study and they’re filling a gap.”
Owens said many higher learning institutions here have partnerships with other schools, such as Trident Tech’s partnership with Lehigh University for engineering studies.
The Lowcountry Graduate Center, which opened in 2001, is a partnership among South Carolina’s major higher learning institutions that was created to expand the opportunities for graduate programs in the state. Through LGC, students can obtain various master’s and Ph.D. programs from the College of Charleston, the Medical University of South Carolina, The Citadel, Clemson University and the University of South Carolina.
Kellee McGahey, the assistant director of LGC, said the center’s mission is to use the Lowcountry’s educational resources to create collaborative programs without duplicating state dollars.
LGC also works as an economic development tool and plans to bring more graduate programs to the community.
“We’re one of the perks of a business locating here,” McGahey said. “They might have 10 employees that need a master’s-level degree that would support that industry, and if that’s not something that’s currently here, it’s our job to research and see if there’s a need beyond that new company and try to make that available here in the Lowcountry.”
McGahey doesn’t view other higher learning institutions in the area as competitive, she said.
“They all offer very different things, and each is effective in its own purpose,” McGahey said. “We are aware that they’re present, but our mission is really to serve the tri-county region and its economic development.”
David White, southeast director for Troy University, said Troy has had its eyes on Charleston for four years. The school’s first campus in South Carolina opened at Shaw Air Force base in Sumter 15 years ago and Troy plans to open a third state location in Gaffney in a couple of years. Troy launched its business program in Charleston on Oct. 9.
“The working adult is the student that we feel we service best; that’s the niche we’re looking for in the Charleston area,” White said. “Our mission is to service adults and the military outside of (the school’s home state of) Alabama.”
Online courses are attracting more adult students, including service men and women stationed in the Middle East, said Helen Houser, campus director for Strayer University.
“Our students could be your next-door neighbor or a soldier in Iraq,” Houser said.
Daketreia Gadsden, a 28-year-old working single mother who had nearly finished a political science degree before her daughter, Tatiana, was born, recently enrolled at Strayer. She plans to obtain a degree in business administration with a concentration in legal studies and expects to take much of her course work online.
“The way the work force is going now, business administration and the business programs Strayer has to offer will really be more beneficial,” Gadsden said.
Jim McCoy, S.C. regional director for Strayer University, said changes are emerging in Charleston, which mean the area is going to need a more educated work force.
“The Charleston economy is in evolution right now, going to a more service-based and information-based economy,” McCoy said.
That’s one of the reasons the university has had its eye on Charleston for several years, Strayer President Robert Silberman said.
“It’s a growing area that has a large number of working adults who have high school degrees who would be negatively affected if they don’t get college degrees, because the economy throughout the United States is shifting away from a manufacturing-based to a more knowledge-based economy,” Silberman said.
“Education is the differentiator that allows someone to command higher salaries and more economic security.”
Silberman does not fear competition from the numerous higher educational institutions in Charleston. He said only 25% of Americans have college degrees, so there is a need to be met.
“As we expand out of our Washington, D.C., base and move into all these new markets, we find there is a very high demand for education in every market we go to, regardless of all the other educational opportunities,” Silberman said. “We don’t really think of it as competition. We think any community is benefited by having more educational opportunities.”
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@charlestonbusiness.com.
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