Northwest Florida State College in SoWal now open

[Kurt]

I have heard a lot of the high school kids in the area go to NWFSC to take classes. Will they be able to go to the SoWal campus instead of Niceville?

 

[SGB]

I have heard a lot of the high school kids in the area go to NWFSC to take classes. Will they be able to go to the SoWal campus instead of Niceville?

Yes! If the class is offered here, then they can take it here. The only exception that I know about is for the students at the Collegiate High School in Niceville. They require that their students take their classes at the NWFSC campus in Niceville. I'm expecting that they will offer some summer classes in SoWal, which would be great for the high school kids here. Well, I guess the kids might not like to go to school during the summer, but if you're going to go, it's better than having to drive to Niceville!

 

[Franny]

They are also offerring art and computer non credit classes..

 

[tailwagger]

It snuck up on us didn't it? -----

Since ground broke in the fall of 2007, the community of South Walton has been waiting anxiously for the opening of the Northwest Florida State College South Walton Center.


“It’s looking really good and the community is really excited,” said Dr. David Goetsch, vice president of community relations and workforce development for the college. “I think they already see it as their little university.”


The newest location of the college is located off of U.S. Highway 331 South and is set to open Jan. 4 to faculty. Classes will begin Jan. 6.


The center will be the college’s seventh area location and its second in Walton County. Both college credit classes and non-credit personal enrichment classes will be offered.
“We are so pleased to bring this convenient new college location to the citizens of Walton County,” said Wesley Wilkerson, chairman of the board of trustees for the college. “Reaching out and making educational opportunities accessible is a key part of our college mission.”
Enrollment for the college classes will last until Dec. 17 at all six of the college’s area locations. Current students also can enroll online.


Courses offered for credit will include economics, microeconomics, business, Spanish, humanities and algebra. Non-credit classes will include computer education, watercolors, painting with acrylics and several gardening courses.


The NWFCS South Walton Center is developed on 16 acres and the facility consists of four buildings with about 11,000 square feet of administrative and classroom space.
A 3,600-foot administrative building will provide office space for faculty and students.


The building also will have a conference room, staff workroom, restrooms and support spaces. The two classroom buildings will have five instructional classrooms that can accommodate an average class size of 18 to 23 students. There also will be a 1,300-square-foot computer laboratory.


“If someone living south of the bay wanted to go to college, they would have had to go in Niceville or DeFuniak Springs,” Goetsch said. “Now it’s like they have a campus in their own backyard.”

 

[hkem1]

This is so exciting! What a great addition to our area. The educational options for our kids and ourselves is really amazing. Just one more thing to draw and keep people in the area. Attached is the first schedule of classes. Looks like they are really trying to offer classes after the high school day is over to give our kids every opportunity to take advantage of the college classes.

Aren't most of these classes already offered at the high school? Based on my count 13 of the 15 classes listed have basic equivalents at the High School, the two that aren't being college success and Phsycolology (which i am not sure if the school offers). It might be good for adults, but it doesn't offer close to the same opportunities for high school students, as the Niceville Campus.

 

[SGB]

Aren't most of these classes already offered at the high school? Based on my count 13 of the 15 classes listed have basic equivalents at the High School, the two that aren't being college success and Phsycolology (which i am not sure if the school offers). It might be good for adults, but it doesn't offer close to the same opportunities for high school students, as the Niceville Campus.

Many of them are the same title, but these are for college credit, so the HS kids can get started earning college credit for free. They'll never has as many classes here as in Niceville, it's a much smaller campus, but it's a great start. I'd hope that as time goes on, the college will fine tune their class offerings to line up the best with the HS students needs.

 

[Jdarg]

Aren't most of these classes already offered at the high school? Based on my count 13 of the 15 classes listed have basic equivalents at the High School, the two that aren't being college success and Phsycolology (which i am not sure if the school offers). It might be good for adults, but it doesn't offer close to the same opportunities for high school students, as the Niceville Campus.

Many of them are the same title, but these are for college credit, so the HS kids can get started earning college credit for free. They'll never has as many classes here as in Niceville, it's a much smaller campus, but it's a great start. I'd hope that as time goes on, the college will fine tune their class offerings to line up the best with the HS students needs.

Yes, it won't have the same offerings as Niceville at the beginning, but I agree it is a good start, and South Walton kids won't have to spend time traveling back and forth to Niceville, leaving them more time for sports, activities, part time jobs, and friends!

 

[scooterbug44]

We had AP classes at the high school and then took the AP tests that the colleges all had set standards for accepting.

There seemed to be much more of an issue with getting credit for taking a class at one college to be honored at another, especially if it was a different state or private school w/ high standards.

How does it work w/ colleges accepting credits from NWFLSC? Is it only in state? Do they not count if they are taken to fulfill high school graduation requirements?

 

[beachmouse]

If you're staying in the state of Florida, it's actually quite a cozy arrangement with the publics. Florida higher ed uses a statewide course name and numbering system and General Biology transfers as General Biology wherever else in the system you go.

Private and outstate get trickier in terms of what will count for transfer purposes and what doesn't. If you're talking about MIT or some high level engineering program, there are sometimes entry level classes you can only take at the school and not use transfer credit for, whether its source is AP or CC.

 

[SGB]

We had AP classes at the high school and then took the AP tests that the colleges all had set standards for accepting.

There seemed to be much more of an issue with getting credit for taking a class at one college to be honored at another, especially if it was a different state or private school w/ high standards.

How does it work w/ colleges accepting credits from NWFLSC? Is it only in state? Do they not count if they are taken to fulfill high school graduation requirements?

As beachmouse said, dual enrollement is a great system if you stay within the state. Just in case you're wondering, college admission offices seem to prefer that applicants take the AP classes instead of dual enrolling. I don't know this first hand, but many of my friends that have older children have checked. So if your child has the option of taking AP Calculus or Calculus at the college, have them take the AP Calculus at the high school. As scooterbug said, the AP test for each subject is standardized across the board, so the college knows exactly what they're getting.

Some of the HS kids actually run out of HS math classes by the time they become Seniors, so they could then take Calculus or Calculus 2 at the college. It's not currently offered at the local campus, but if enough parents requested it, maybe it could be.