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First Posted: 5/19/2014
Smart move, Pittston.
This plucky city, perhaps most widely known beyond Luzerne County for its annual tomato festival, continues to position itself for a rebirth, most recently by trying to woo into its downtown a college.
Advocates for Pittston’s progress say they want Luzerne County Community College, or another institution, to select its Main Street as the site for a satellite campus. They’ve previously pitched the idea; now, they’re encouraging city residents to participate in an online survey that would help LCCC officials to gauge the public’s interest in taking classes close to home.
The notion isn’t so far-fetched. LCCC, which bills itself as bringing education to “your neighborhood,” already operates in three of Luzerne County’s four cities: Nanticoke (where its main campus is located), Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton. Belying its name, the college also extends beyond the county’s boundaries with “dedicated centers” as distant as Shamokin, plus “high school sites” in places such as Honesdale and Susquehanna.
Granted, only about 15 miles separate Pittston from LCCC’s main campus. However, traveling by vehicle between those spots requires about a half hour. For busy parents, professionals and others living in or near Pittston, the added convenience of attending a class downtown, without devoting a full hour to the commute, could be the incentive to enroll.
Northeastern Pennsylvania can benefit from practically any effort to put higher education within people’s reach – geographically, financially, even conceptually. More area residents, particularly young people, need to be reminded that a college degree is something to which they can reasonably aspire.
As it stands, about 88 percent of Luzerne County’s adult residents have graduated from high school, a figure comparable to the statewide statistic, according to Census data. However, of those adults in Luzerne County ages 25 and above, only about 20.5 percent have attained a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the data. The statewide figure is closer to 27 percent. Degree-holders generally earn more money over their lifetimes.
Of course, not everyone who expresses a desire for “college” necessarily aims to complete credit-bearing courses. Some people might need job-related training and certification courses. Others might want to pick up a new skill (photography, foreign language or cooking) purely for fun.
Responses to LCCC’s 18-question survey will help it to identify what use, if any, Pittston area residents would hope to make of a more convenient campus. For example, it poses this question: “How likely would anyone in your household be to enroll in personal enrichment courses if they were offered in downtown Pittston?” Potential responses range from “very likely” to “would not enroll.”
Another question asks those respondents who plan to attend college to specify their fields of interest, then lists options such as “psychology/social sciences/history,” “computer information systems” and “skilled trades and technology.”
The survey is accessible via the city’s Internet site, at pittstoncity.org. Survey participants may remain anonymous, though they have the option of providing contact information. Each is asked about household income and to identify his or her age range.
Let’s hope plenty of Pittston area residents take seriously this opportunity and fill out the survey.
While striving for a community comeback, the city’s movers and shakers have concentrated on creating an attractive downtown with public art, galleries, retail shops, other businesses and eateries. Adding a higher-education component to the current mix would be the feather in Pittston’s (graduation) cap.