Another college is adding weekends

TGIF could mean "Time to Get in Focus" for some students this fall at Camden County College, which will begin offering associate-degree programs on weekends.

The new "Weekend College" is a way to broaden access to students who have work or family commitments during the week, school officials said. It also will run on an accelerated schedule, allowing students to finish their degree work in 15 months.

Camden County will be the second area community college to offer such a program. Montgomery County Community College's has been in place since 2000.

Two other community colleges, in Delaware and Gloucester Counties, said they were contemplating such a program.

Nationally, weekend college appears to be another way that community colleges are trying to meet the demand of exploding enrollments in a downward economy.

"What Camden is doing is not unusual. It is just a sign of the times," said Norma Kent, vice president of communications at the American Association of Community Colleges. "Access is what we are all about."

"Weekend college" began appearing at four-year universities in the 1960s and 1970s and had spread across the nation by the late 1980s, said Tony Pals, spokesman for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

The trend was accelerated at the time because of a recession and the slowdown in the growth of the traditional college-age population, which pushed universities to make conditions more appealing to adult learners, he said. Similar conditions exist today, he noted.

"The bottom line for most institutions of higher education is that consumer demand for flexible academic programs that appeal to adult learners will grow in coming years," he said.

Pals estimated that from 250 to 300 private nonprofit colleges offer weekend college.

Camden County College was spurred by the results of a survey it conducted in spring 2008.

About 70 percent of 1,200 students who took classes on weekends said that was the only time they could attend, said Sebastian Vasta, dean of academic support at the school.

"We thought we had a niche here," Vasta said.

Based on survey results, the college decided to offer three degree programs to start: Business, Pre-nursing, and Liberal Arts.

The college is aiming to enroll 20 to 40 students in its first group this fall, but it could grow after that, he said. The college's online program began a decade ago with 40 students and now enrolls thousands, he said.

Classes will meet Friday night, Saturday and Sunday on the Blackwood campus, with students attending up to eight consecutive seven-week course sections.

Gloucester County College is developing a weekend program, which likely will offer a liberal arts degree, said Maureen D'Andrea, acting vice president of student services. It likely will start in 2010-11.

The college has added to its Saturday course offerings for this fall, she noted.

Delaware County Community College has expanded its weekend course offerings by 74 percent for the fall to accommodate increased enrollment, said Fran Cubberley, vice president for enrollment management. The school will consider offering degree programs in the future, she said.

"We're looking at a variety of instructional delivery modes," she noted.

At MCCC, 300 students are enrolled in weekend classes, which offer degrees in general and liberal studies, said spokeswoman Alana J. Mauger.

Bucks County Community College is not moving toward a weekend degree program, officials said.