Winona Post: Some MSC SE course enrollments increase

by Alexandra Retter, September 23, 2020

As four-year colleges throughout the county have projected enrollment declines with some students taking a gap year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment has increased in Minnesota State College Southeast (MSC Southeast) transfer pathway programs, which allow students to begin their collegiate studies before attending a four-year university.... Enrollment is up this fall in almost every transfer pathway major, according to Vice President of Student Affairs Josiah Litant. 

...Ella Sutherland, who graduated from Red Wing High School earlier this year, attended MSC Southeast as a PSEO (postsecondary enrollment options) student while she was in high school. She was accepted at Winona State University (WSU), but after the pandemic resulted in WSU having many of its dorms be single-occupancy rooms and all of Sutherland's classes being online, she decided to stay at MSC Southeast and pursue the sociology transfer pathway to try to save money and stay close to the town, home and family members she loves in Red Wing, she stated.

When she was a PSEO student, she took general education courses such as sociology, psychology and writing. She is now taking general education classes including multicultural America and environmental chemistry. Her classes, which are all online, are going well so far, she said.

"I think I'm learning just as much as I could in a classroom," Sutherland noted. "But also, at the same time, online schooling isn't for everybody."

She said she is "100-percent happy" with her choice to study at MSC Southeast, and she is glad she is working toward having money set aside while exploring her interests.

Read the full story: http://www.winonapost.com/Article/ArticleID/70231/Some-MSC-SE-course-enrollments-increase