As more students flock to community colleges today, institutions are staying ahead of rising enrollment with creativity and flexibility. The newest offering at many community colleges across the country is early class times that allow for additional course offerings and work around professional students' busy schedules.
However, do classes before dawn really make the grade? We looked at three different community colleges with early course offerings to find the answer.
"Early Bird" Classes at Gateway
Gateway Community College in Connecticut is just one of the many colleges opening up their campuses for early birds. According to a report in the Hartford Courant, Gateway will begin offering its first set of "early bird classes" during its fall semester. The courses will begin at 6:30 in the morning and let out by 8 a.m., giving you plenty of time to make it to your day job.
"If you work the average day shift, this could be a simple way to get a class done before you go to work," Dean of Academic Affairs Mark Kosinski states on the college's website. Kosinski also told the Courant, "We are constantly looking for new ways to meet the needs of our diverse student body so we'll be looking closely at the results of this pilot to see whether it should be expanded beyond the fall semester."
In addition to flexible scheduling for professional students earning degrees while working full-time, the earlier schedules will provide more courses for Gateway's overflowing student