ESCC named number one community college in the state

On Tuesday, Oct. 17, Schools.com rated Enterprise State Community College the number one community college in Alabama.

The college was thrilled to receive the award.

“We just found out Schools.com ranked us the number one community college in Alabama, so that's pretty exciting, and they ranked (the community colleges) (on) a bunch of different things,” said Dean of Students Olivier Charles.

There were 11 data points that the school was scored on, some of them being the percentage of students enrolled in distance education, cost of attendance, student-to-faculty ratio, retention rate and completions per 100 students among other categories.

“One of the things that we were ranked highly on is our offering of online courses,” said Charles. “We offer quite a few of our courses online. In fact, I want to say the number is about 18 to 20 percent of our student body takes an online class.”

The college also ranked highly in retention rate, quality of education, affordability, program availability and innovation of programs.

As far as retention rate, Charles said that often times at community colleges students enroll but leave early. They often get a couple of credits then go to a four-year university. What this study says about ESCC is that students are staying and they’re graduating. “Our graduation rate over the past three years has increased about 14 percent,” Charles said.

Another one of the many highlights of an ESCC education is the affordability of its classes. “It’s a wonderful thing to provide such a quality education and make it affordable,” said Charles. “We preach value here a lot. The value of an education you get here is the same if not better compared to the value of an Alabama or Auburn. Getting the same classes, the same quality, and just a caring faculty and staff, and we just do it in a more nurturing way.”

Charles commended the financial aid department for great communication on how to afford college.

“They go into the high schools and help students fill out the FAFSA, which can be a grueling process,” said Charles. “They try to make that process as less cumbersome as possible on mom and dad and the students.”

In regards to program availability, there are offerings on the weekends and plans are being made to offer weekend classes as well. Charles said this helps the working parent who wants to come back to school.

Charles said they also looked at the innovation of their programs and were highly marked in that area as well. “We are the controlling entity of the Alabama Aviation College in Ozark, and the place is doing well,” said Charles. “Alabama's ranked in the top four in the country in terms of states that are growing in terms of aviation jobs, and Alabama Aviation College is at the forefront of really getting people prepared for those jobs. Our kids leave that facility with the capability of making $50 to $100 an hour.”

Charles said there were kids that worked in NASCAR and the federal government that graduated from ESCC’s Alabama Aviation College.

For the future of the program Charles is confident in the ongoing progress being made. “I think we've got more to come, and I think the community will be very excited about it,” said Charles. “We're working on a couple of new programs. One of them is the medical assisting program that we're trying to get approved, and one of them is the industrial maintenance program, and that's just what's out there now. We're creating a plan to add more programs, and it's really important to the president, myself, and the entire faculty and staff here that we continue to stay on the cutting edge of offering programs.”

Charles, as well as students at ESCC, raved about the quality of the staff. “I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s a lot smaller and you get that one-on-one experience. We have some of the best staff,” said Phoenix Elder, ESCC student.

“They do everything they can to help each and every student and to meet every student’s specific needs, whether it’s one on one or whether it’s tips on how to study for a test. So that’s definitely a good reason why we are the number one community college,” William Lindgren, ESCC student said.

When asking a faculty member about the college, Dr. Amy Wise, a professor at ESCC said, “I believe the reason we were named one of the best community colleges in Alabama is because we have a very strong and successful online program. Our instructors are caring and compassionate whether it be in the classroom or online and one of our main goals is to provide a positive learning experience so that our students will be successful.”