8,500 Southside Virginians Can’t Be Wrong: SVCC Registration for Spring 2010 Underway Now
That number, eight thousand, five hundred, is the number of individual people who chose to take classes at Southside Virginia Community College last year (Summer 2008 through Spring 2009). As another comparison, that number is about the same as the number of students enrolled at Longwood University plus those enrolled at Christopher Newport University.
Southside Virginians have learned that a good, solid education can be found right here at home. There are many reasons for attending SVCC including :
- It’s cheaper (higher education at one third the cost)
- Close to home, family, job, friends
- Has an open door policy.
- Offers the first two years of a four year degree with many transfer agreements
- Small classes and great professors.
- Offers vocational training
- Proven success record
- Honors Program
- Sports
- Financial Aid
According to Maria Delossantos, of Boydton, a student in the Associate Degree Nursing Program, “One of the main reasons I chose Southside Virginia Community  College’s Associate Degree Nursing Program to become a Registered Nurse is because it has one of the most competitive state board pass rates. Along with that consideration, when I was searching for a school to attend, I received only positive reviews from the facilities and doctor’s offices about the student population from year’s past. The nursing program and the facilities are very well respected in the surrounding communities and that means a lot to me. I want to be a product of SVCC’s long line of well-educated students. I could not have asked for a more supportive advisement team, financial aid team, student activities team, an atmosphere that is conductive to the highest level of learning and last but not least, instructors that strive to ensure that we perform to our highest potential and who help us to succeed.”
Dustin Black of Burkeville noted “I never had the chance to finish high school. A stint with home schooling did not work out and eventually, I was on my own with a job, a  GED and looking into getting a proper education. I found SVCC through the Honors Scholarship Program, which I applied for and got into. That helped my financially until I was able to receive federal financial aid. I am in the Business Administration program and plan on transferring to Longwood University for a degree in accounting with a minor in finance. Eventually, I would like to use my finance education to hasten the integration of finance and economics in the high school curriculum as a mandatory class. I also have interests in philosophy and theology and may, one day, pursue those. All of these possibilities have been afforded me as a product of insightful, thought-provoking instructors I have encountered at Southside Virginia Community College.”
Zeb Elliott, SVCC Alumnus, Adjunct Faculty, Chief Technology Officer for Buggs  Island Telephone, South Hill, Virginia had this to say: “I feel the quality and level of education delivered by SVCC instructors is equal to that delivered by many four year institutions on a class by class basis. The ‘icing on the cake’ for the student is that you get the same education or better for half the cost. The general education requirements can be fulfilled at SVCC and then a student can transfer to a university to complete their major area of study. The result is a student who has the same level of education but it not nearly as burdened with student loan debt as compared with one who attended the full four years at the university.
I think community colleges also give students a competitive advantage in the workplace by providing in demand, relevant work skills delivered by industry professionals at a more than affordable rate. I further believe and have seen evidence that community colleges and, SVCC in particular, are more flexible and adept at dealing with change than other institutions of higher learning. This translates into a more updated curriculum with access to newer technologies through partnerships with the private sector. Everyday people come to SVCC to stay current on their existing jobs and prepare for jobs of tomorrow.
I fully intend for my future children to take full advantage of SVCC’s educational opportunities through the dual enrollment program and completing their first two years of study at the community college level before transferring to a four-year university.”
Your chance is waiting at Southside Virginia Community College. Visit the college today, call 1-888-220-SVCC, or check out the website www.southside.edu to learn what 8,500 Southside Virginians already know.
(c) 2009. Southside Virginia Community College. All rights reserved.
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