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Dec 8, 2008 6:33 pm US/Central
Bad Economy Has Many Turning To Community Colleges
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Challenging economic times have turned into a very fruitful period for community colleges. Local campus prosperity comes as thousands of North Texans 're-tool' for new careers.
More than 60,000 people are enrolled in Dallas Community colleges. They're called 'Adult Learners' and they're one of the fastest growing groups on campuses, as 'career transitioning' classrooms grow larger in size and number.
You'll find a number of 'adult learners' in the pharmacy technology program at Richland College. People like Donna Swords, a 58-year-old mother of two, are transitioning from one profession to another.
Swords left the world of retail and pre-school education, to find economic and professional stability. Marriah Leeper also made the switch to the wide-ranging healthcare industry. Both say they had to do something.
"Medical is gonna be here," Leeper explained. "I've been laid off twice before and I didn't want to experience that again."
Swords says when she made the switch she wasn't just looking out for herself. "It provided me, I thought, with a career with a future that would be a lot more secure for myself and my family."
The majority of the students CBS 11 News saw, in two Richland College health professions classrooms, had different careers a year ago. They are now part of the school's ever-growing Continuing Education and Workforce Development area.
They are 'adult learners' trying to keep pace with an ever-changing work world. Health Professions Administrator Shannon Ydoyaga says, "Forty percent of our students are form the 'baby boomer' populations. The others are doing re-training."
Most 'adult learners' will spend more than a year training for new professions.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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