New Community College Offers Classes

New Community College Offers Classes

One of the first students of the newly created Eastern Gateway Community College, Brenda Brady spoke to a packed crowd at the launch of the Mahoning Valley’s first community college. “You’re giving me a legacy. You’re giving me a dream…this college is long overdue,”
Brady said.

A licensed practical nurse employed as a case-management nurse at Park Vista Retirement Center, Brady enrolled in the LPN to RN access program. She will be taking anatomy, physiology and chemistry classes this fall, and is able to attend class at night, something that was unavailable before the community college.

“This is a great day for this region of Ohio,” said Governor Ted Strickland, who travelled to Youngstown in order to participate in the opening ceremony. Despite a budget deficit of several billion dollars, the Governor and the State found new money to fund the needed community college.

This was in large part due to Eastern Gateway’s innovative community college model. As a college without walls, classes are being offered at six locations across four counties and online, in order to maximize education opportunities and reduce wasteful overhead. “It is a model that I hope will be emulated often in our state,” Strickland said.

The community college is also a significant victory for U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan, who has been working to expand education opportunities since he was elected six years ago. Ryan stated that the community college is “a critical component” of Northeastern Ohio’s economic revitalization, and that students would be able to attend for free with subsidies from federal grant programs.

This effort was supported by the Raymond John Wean Foundation who gave two significant grant to assist with the planning and design and by the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC), who helped to coordinate the surveying of more than 1,000 individuals to determine programming.

Roy Church, Lorain County Community College president and chairman of the task force that created the community college, said that Eastern Gateway had only a few weeks to advertise its course offerings before classes started. Initial offerings include 11 associate’s degree programs, four college certificate programs, and a total of 183 course sections. Continued efforts are being made to expand these opportunities through local schools, neighborhood organizations, and other facilities – enabling residents to attend classes near where they live and work.

For information concerning enrollment and registration, contact Kenny Rupert at 1-800-682-6553, ext. 236.

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