Bollinger County college

Residents in Bollinger County like the area's remote appeal, but a group of the county's school superintendents don't want that to hinder their students' access to higher education.

A committee of 20 people, including representatives from all four of the county's schools, have been meeting to look at the possibility of creating an education center where students could take college courses.

Students who want to take college courses have to travel to Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff or Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.

Officials believe that if college courses were offered closer to home, a higher percentage of Bollinger County residents might take advantage of the offerings.

Already Southeast Missouri State University has created distance learning centers in Kennett and Sikeston that offer college credit courses to area residents.

And university officials have been part of the discussion in Bollinger County as well.

The Bollinger County committee looking at higher education offerings is taking a practical, reasonable approach. In an era of distance learning, offering Web classes or teaching through interactive television seems like an ideal possibility.

Online courses are the future of education, university officials say. Students don't have to drive long distances and could take classes while still having some flexibility for their schedules.

In that sense, the classes appeal to both traditional and non-traditional students.

Southeast is working to create an online degree program for its general studies degree.

Mineral Area College and Three Rivers Community College also offer online courses.

Creating a computer lab in Bollinger County could give potential students access to all those course offerings. In Bollinger County, a simple computer lab set up in a school classroom could offer students access to online courses from a variety of higher education institutions. Such a lab could be created for $10,000, which seems like a reasonable expense for the opportunities it would create.

It seems prudent for the university and Bollinger County educators to continue talking about how to better serve the community and offer higher education to all students, regardless of where they reside.