Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

CTC Program Helps Poor Attend School

Half of all high school graduates do not attend college after graduation.

In many instances, this is because there are no programs available for average students who aren't athletically inclined.

Dr. Frank Adams, president of Cossatot Technical College (CTC) in De Queen, spoke to the Gurdon Rotary Club about this Thursday, May 28.

Adams said students at either end of the academic spectrum, those who are extremely bright, or those who have some kind of problem, can find financial assistance to attend post- secondary schools.

But, for the vast majority of students, those falling in the middle of the other categories, there is little help available.

Adams has discussed this problem with the Arkansas General Assembly, with few results. However, in an effort to aid what he called the working poor students, an endowment fund was created at Cossatot Technical College.

This fund, he said, is only used for those students working, with a family and who show initiative in returning to school.

Currently, according to a brochure from Cossatot, the fund has $2,000 pledged and donated. The goal, though, is to increase this amount to at least $1 million over the next five years.

The fund will be so invested as to use the interest to help pay for the education of the working poor.

Adams said Arkansas is a leader in one area of education and this is the access students have to higher education.

Per capita, he said, there are more post-secondary schools in Arkansas than anywhere in the United States. This includes private schools, community colleges, technical colleges, four year colleges and universities.

Nationally, Adams informed the Rotarians, 40 percent of post-secondary students are in two-year schools, such as CTC. This leaves 60 percent in four-year institutions.

CTC, he said, has three campuses to serve students. The one in De Queen, one in Ashdown and another in Nashville. Each of these facilities serves students from a 50-mile radius.

CTC, he said, is accredited through the North Central Association.

The school produces skilled individuals, Adams said, people who are ready for the work force.

Jobs in the 21st century, he continued, will require the workers to have some post- secondary education, but not necessarily four-year degrees in many instances. Industries need people who will show up with good work ethics and ready to do the job.

Should their employees need more education, he said, the company will help them take care of it.

The time is coming when PhDs will be few and far between.

Currently, he said, part of the problem for two-year schools, such as CTC, is parents who still believe four-year degrees are needed for their child to succeed.

This isn't necessarily the case, Adams added, as industry requirements are changing and needing people who can handle information.