College campuses popping up around Valley

By Joshua Snyder
West Times Staff

Students living in Arizona’s Valley of the Sun have plenty of choices when it comes to college. They need to decide on a major, whether or not to minor in anything, what classes to take, what organizations or activities to take part in, and much more. Before they can come to any conclusions, however, students need to decide what college they plan to attend.

Picking a college isn’t necessarily an easy decision. There are a large number of campuses devoted to higher education, and still more are in the process of being built. In recent years a surprising amount of local schools have been popping up throughout the city and its surrounding areas.

Franklin Pierce University is one such location. Situated in Goodyear, the school hopes to open in 2012. Franklin Pierce will offer several programs in a variety of specialties, rather than focusing on a single discipline. While the university already has locations around the nation, they are very excited about the development of their Arizona campus. The site is currently scheduled to begin construction in 2010, and will be complete in 2025.

The University of the Incarnate Word and the University of St. Francis, Catholic schools from Texas and Illinois respectively, also plan to build campuses in Goodyear. UIW, which is already offering classes at Desert Edge High School, hopes to begin classes on-campus as soon as 2012. The school aims to eventually enroll 3,000 students.

Midwestern University, while a presence in the Valley since 1996, is continuing to grow. The medical school has almost completed construction on seven new buildings at their Glendale campus. Facilities include an auditorium, Recreation and Wellness Hall, Interfaith Chapel, and expansions to their library and science center. Midwestern’s incoming class is the largest yet, at 775 students. The New College of Dental Medicine opened this fall, with other programs planning to become available over the next several years.

Although it isn’t opening any new programs or campuses, University of Phoenix has been a part of the Valley’s higher education since 1978. Despite popular belief, the university is not strictly online, but offers standard classes at any of its 11 campuses in Arizona.

With three full-scale universities and a large number of community colleges in the state, why are so many smaller private colleges being built? A multitude of campuses are required to satisfy students’ need for a college education. This allows students from all backgrounds and ages to attend school on their own terms. For example, men and women who work full-time during the day and may never have gone to college now have the opportunity to earn their degree. The fact that there are campuses everywhere also allows students to go to school without having to rent dorms or face the pain of exorbitant gas prices.

Finally, these private schools can offer students who can’t afford to go to universities the chance to participate in degree tracks or special programs that may not be found at their nearby community colleges.

Despite their relatively humble appearance, these smaller colleges are, in fact, quite valuable to education in the Valley, and the demand for them is growing.