Lubbock Christian University welcomes students an visitors at its West 19th Street campus. A-J photo/Joe Don Buckner

Alternate colleges increasing in size

By KARA ALTENBAUMER
Avalanche-Journal

As Texas Tech boasts its largest-ever freshmen class this fall, Lubbock's three other colleges and universities offer something a little different than the trappings of a large, public institution.

Lubbock Christian University, affiliated with the Church of Christ, prides itself on character development and is the home of the Character Counts program, a method for teaching good citizenship to children.

Like Tech, LCU is growing rapidly and recently embarked on a campus-improvement program designed to handle record enrollment. New apartment-style dormitories, the Rip Griffin Center for student athletics and recreation, expansion of the behavioral science building and renovation of existing dormitories are the in the works.

More than 1,400 students enrolled during the spring semester.

"We've been doing a lot of things, but we saw a need in the history of this university to that some things needed to be done for student life," LCU President Ken Jones has said. "We expect to reap the benefits in (the number of) students. Lubbock Christian is a happier campus. It's a more customer-friendly campus."

Included among the bragging rights at LCU are its teacher-education program, which produces highly sought after graduates as well as its organizational management degree geared toward working adults who started but didn't finish college the first time around.

Also filling a niche for religious education in Lubbock is Wayland Baptist University's Lubbock campus, which boasts an executive master's of business administration program for working professionals. Classes are generally taught at night and on weekends.

Wayland's local campus is also experiencing growth with double-digit percentage increases for a number of semesters, director Kent Brooks has said. Last fall there were 522 students enrolled at the new location off of Loop 289 and West 19th Street.

A college student no longer means an 18-year-old dorm resident; it's simply someone who wants to better a career, Brooks has said.

Although Levelland-based South Plains College has traditionally focused on technical education efforts in Lubbock, it now partners with Tech in offering Spanish classes on the university campus and teaching some general education requirements at its new Reese Technology Center campus.

This past spring, 1,814 students attend classes at the downtown Lubbock campus and the Byron Martin Advanced Technology Center, and 1,912 students are enrolled at Reese Center. Some of the more popular programs in Lubbock are in allied health and electronics.

Kara Altenbaumer can be contacted at 766-8742 or [email protected]

Higher Education Institutions in Lubbock:

Texas Tech University Ð one of the state's largest public universities boasting enrollment nearing 25,000 students with a medical campus and law school adjacent to the university located at Broadway and University Avenue.

Lubbock Christian University Ð a small campus affiliated with the Churches of Christ located at 19th Street and Chicago Avenue.

South Plains College Ð local branches of the Levelland community college are located downtown at 1302 Main Street, at 34th Street and Avenue Q and at the Reese Center on Highway 114.

Wayland Baptist University Ð local branch of the Plainview-based university is located at Loop 289 and West 19th Street.