WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-CCV Moving Into Woodbury College
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Montpelier, Vermont - November 11, 2008
Construction in Winooski and a new campus in Montpelier...
The Community College of Vermont continues to expand in Vermont while other universities are struggling with budget shortfalls.
"Our enrollment has traditionally been counter cyclical. When the economy is down and people are worried about finances, CCV comes as a choice for students that weren't thinking about it before," CCV President Tim Donovan said.
CCV has seen it's enrollment more than double over the past seven years.
The new campus in Winooski is slated to open in 2010 and will be home to about 2,000 students. Most currently go to the CCV campus in downtown Burlington.
The Woodbury campus will become the main campus for students in Central Vermont-- students who currently attend CCV in Waterbury or at the existing CCV campus in downtown Montpelier. Those two sites will close.
It will take several years before CCV students actually begin taking classes at Woodbury College. The existing site simply isn't big enough to accommodate the 600-plus students that will go there.
"Several years from now we'll build an addition on the building," Donovan said.
CCV has now purchased four buildings over the past four years.
In 2004, the Vermont State Colleges Board granted the college the authority to buy space rather than lease it after college officials convinced the board it was more affordable.
CCV also has its eyes set on purchasing property in Rutland.
"Rutland is our second largest site after Burlington, and so it's a logical place for us to do that," Donovan explained.
Ambitious plans to expand-- as families and students look for a cheaper alternative to traditional 4 year schools.
Keagan Harsha - WCAX News
