EDITORIAL: Tech enrollment shows residents' desire to excel

The economy surely has a great deal to do with this semester’s increase in enrollment over spring 2009 at Florence-Darlington Technical College. When the job market turns sour, people naturally look to earn new certificates and degrees that will make them more competitive.

But the 14-percent jump in students taking classes at Florence-Darlington Tech also signals a shift toward more technological jobs in this area, as well as residents’ desire to make themselves prime candidates for those new jobs.

Enrollment is up at all campuses; the college reports that its sites in Hartsville and Mullins have seen increases of 40 percent. But the biggest influx happened at the Lake City site, which began the semester with a 74 percent increase in enrollment, the highest the site has seen.

Lake City has seen some promising new industry coming right along with the rising enrollment.

Materials Innovation Technologies had interviews at the Lake City site about two weeks ago and will begin its training at the site Monday, said Paula McLaughlin, the college’s Lake City site director.

The Fletcher, N.C.-based company plans to hire 120 employees for its facility in Lake City, where it will reclaim carbon fiber from composites. The carbon fiber would be used in automobile or aerospace components.

Florence-Darlington Tech as a whole spans two counties, as its name clearly implies. The Lake City site in particular also draws students from Williamsburg and Clarendon counties, McLaughlin said.

At the sites, college officials can “personalize” the financial aid process by offering one-on-one help in the community setting, McLaughlin said. From there, the students have opportunities to transfer to the main campus, in Florence, when they reach course levels that require new advisers, clinical settings, internships or field placements, she said.

The college also is working to help “dislocated” workers who have difficulty entering degree programs because they haven’t attended school for 10 to 15 years, McLaughlin said. The college and local One-Stop centers offer remediation to help those residents perform better on the college’s tests, she said.

Each semester, the Lake City site schedules about 50 classes, day and evening, not counting continuing education, McLaughlin said. To accommodate as many students’ schedules as possible, the college is open from 7:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

While the site’s enrollment this semester began at 510 but is closer to 450, McLaughlin said it’s common for 50 to 100 students to withdraw by midterms because of financial aid and many other situations. Nonetheless, the college’s enrollment was under 300 this past spring, and many students have left because they’ve found and begun new jobs, she said.

Advancing industry and increasing enrollment at Florence-Darlington Tech go hand in hand, and both benefit our region. We hope the area will continue to attract responsible corporate citizens who will encourage our residents to continue educating themselves.