It's hard for residents in rural northwestern Pennsylvania to earn a college degree while staying local. In some towns the nearest campus is more than 70 miles away. So the state Department of Education came up with a solution, launching Northern Pennsylvania Regional College in 2017.
"The two-year regional college differs from typical schools with its 'nontraditional delivery system.' Instead of having one central campus where all students go, there's a network of satellite classrooms in schools or libraries across the region, where students and instructors connect through real-time video conferencing," Min Xian reports for WITF, a multimedia news outlet in Harrisburg. "The school hopes to be an answer to the two big obstacles rural students in Pennsylvania face: cost and access."
"The two-year regional college differs from typical schools with its 'nontraditional delivery system.' Instead of having one central campus where all students go, there's a network of satellite classrooms in schools or libraries across the region, where students and instructors connect through real-time video conferencing," Min Xian reports for WITF, a multimedia news outlet in Harrisburg. "The school hopes to be an answer to the two big obstacles rural students in Pennsylvania face: cost and access."
One instructor can interact with multiple classrooms full of students; there are 18 classrooms in nine northern counties now. The college's founding president, Joseph Nairn, told Xian that the college is much more affordable because it doesn't have to pay for a cafeteria, gym or residence halls.
The college isn't accredited yet, but Nairn says it will be by the end of 2019. It currently enrolls 83 students, and expects to have 150 next year, Xian reports.
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