Tech partners with Waco community college

Students in Waco will be able to earn four-year or graduate degrees from Texas Tech through a partnership announced Thursday.

Tech will initially offer courses at McLennan Community College primarily through the Internet and by satellite video, but plans are in place to add Tech faculty and staff at the college, according to Tech officials.

"It allows us to tap into a highly qualified pool of students who are place-bound," said Matt Baker, the dean of Tech's College of Outreach and Distance Education.

The new distance education option is part of a larger administrative push at Tech for better partnerships with community colleges, an increasing popular option for students, especially minorities and low-income students.

Enrollment in Texas' two-year public colleges and its technical colleges increased nearly 16 percent from fall 2007 to fall 2008, according to data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Nationally, about 6.2 million students are enrolled in 1,045 community colleges - about 35 percent of overall students pursuing higher education, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

"I look forward to our partnership with MCC becoming a model that we can replicate across Texas," Tech President Guy Bailey said.

McLennan Community College has an enrollment of about 8,000 students, according to its Web site.

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TEXAS TECH/New distance education

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Community College