By Dawn Hatfield
DailyAdvocate.com

PIQUA — Edison State Community College President, Dr. Doreen Larson, was featured as a guest on WDTN Channel 2 Thursday, Feb. 3. She spoke with Living Dayton’s Emily Gibbs about Edison State’s offerings and highlighted the college’s bold 25&UP Tuition Waiver initiative.

Chartered in 1973 as the first general and technical college in Ohio, Edison State continues to grow and thrive even in the throes of a worldwide pandemic. Regarding its countering of the enrollment decrease trend, Larson explained, “We are bucking the state trend and the national trend in enrollment. We actually had started to grow our enrollment prior to COVID; we had made a very, very strong commitment to online learning and really going all in on online degrees… ”

To further expand upon Edison’s growth during the pandemic, Larson detailed the tuition waiver initiative the college implemented. “Edison State put in place a tuition waiver for all of the high school graduates in our service area to just remove that [financial] barrier… It was a pretty bold move. Our trustees approved it, and it has been a big success for Edison State, more so, actually, than we anticipated. The students that came in… they have stayed. Over 90 percent of them have remained with Edison State as students. They are going to complete their degrees with us and then move on for their four-year degrees.”

When asked if Edison State will remain committed to virtual learning in the future, Larson noted the popularity of this option with today’s students and assured viewers that online and hybrid learning are poised to stay at Edison State. “We have all of our campuses open for services and for courses, but that online environment is very popular with our students if done well, and we do it very well,” said Larson.

Building on the success of the high-school student tuition waiver program, Edison is now offering a tuition waiver to adult students, ages 25 and up. “They can attend Edison State in any of our accelerated programs, our degrees, our certificates, without the tuition,” added Larson.

Edison State offers a wide array of programs, from arts, humanities, and communication to information technology, engineering and manufacturing, and health sciences, just to name a few. Additionally, the 25+ Fast Track programs include accounting, business systems, criminal justice, industrial operations, and a medical assistant certificate.

Working off a full-time cohort model, each 25+ Track associate degree program typically takes one year, plus a half or a full semester to complete (assuming no developmental coursework is needed.) Classes begin in late August of each year and would end in December of the following year.

Edison State Community College’s main campus is located at 1973 Edison Drive, Piqua, but the college also maintains branch campuses in Greenville, Eaton, and Troy. For information about tuition waivers, enrollment, or general questions, call the campus at 937-778-8600 or visit edisonohio.edu.

The Living Dayton video segment may be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/LivingDayton or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yey3R5hiN_I.

Dawn Hatfield covers education stories for The Daily Advocate. Have a school-related event to share? Reach out by email at [email protected] or by phone at 937-569-0066.