The best online community college in the nation can be found in Mississippi. BestColleges.com has named Southwest Mississippi Community College the best online community college in the nation for 2018.
“I am proud to learn that Southwest has been recognized by Bestcolleges.com,” said SMCC President Dr. Steve Bishop. “We strive to recruit and retain outstanding students from our area and our state, then give them many opportunities to excel. Our students enjoy great success because of our dedicated Board of Trustees, Faculty, and Staff.”
An on-line education offers different benefits to students versus the traditional on-campus style of education. SMCC Vice-President of Instruction Alicia Shows s
“We talk about how much better your life could be with a degree or certificate, but if we don’t make it available to fit your particular life situation, how does that help you?” said SMCC Vice-President of Instruction Alicia Shows. “Assignments for online classes can be completed at 2 a.m. or any other time, if that is what works best for you. An Associate of Arts degree and several of our Associate of Applied Science degrees are available completely online. Southwest’s online faculty are also great about helping students. I have had teachers teach one student, because that particular student really needed a certain class by a certain date. Faculty teach over the summer, over the Christmas holidays, and during any session they are asked. We offer new sections beginning EVERY month, so you don’t have to wait until January or August to start taking classes. About half of Southwest’s students take at least one online class each semester.”
Bishop added that SMCC’s online program has been successful because all of the community colleges in the state are working together.
“We all are apart of the Mississippi virtual community college, that’s where all 15 of our community colleges work together to make sure that we can deliver online classes to our citizens in Mississippi,” Bishop said. “Each year about 60,000 students gain access to more than 2,500 courses.
Bishop said that traditional student often take online classes, as well as, high school students who take dual enrollment courses.
