This Tennessee community college made Friday classes virtual to address inflation and retain students

For cash-strapped college students, inflation is making school harder to pay for. But Southwest Tennessee Community College has been responding to student needs in the hopes of keeping them enrolled.

The school is unique. It’s the only majority Black public community college in the state. A large portion of students use Pell grants to go to school, and many are adult learners who have to work.

Cory Major, the vice president of student affairs, says the Memphis-based school has an obligation to help when its students are struggling financially.

“We knew that as food cost increased, as rent increased, as the cost of gas increased, that for some of our students the decision was going to be fairly easy to stop college.”

So for the summer, they made all classes virtual on Fridays. Nursing student Tornisha Allen says she used the gas savings for essentials — like food — and to get nicer textbooks.

“We have the choice to buy a textbook or we can buy the ebook, and sometimes I prefer the hard copy.”

Southwest Tennessee Community College also offers a social services coordinator, who can connect students with a food pantry, and emergency grants for students who have trouble making rent.

Living up to the school’s middle name

“We like to say here at Southwest that ‘Community’ is our middle name,” says Major. He says the institution reflects the diversity of its area more than many others. So, he says, when the school succeeds, so does the surrounding community.

On a micro scale, Major says Southwest is “getting more students on pathways to economic mobility, getting more individuals access to life-sustaining wages, getting more individuals on a pathway to a career, not just a job.”

But zooming out, he says the school is “not just meeting the needs of the individual that’s going to get that certificate or going to get that diploma at the end of their time at Southwest. We’re feeding the economic engine here locally.”

In the coming days, the school will decide whether to continue virtual Fridays through the fall semester.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated that Southwest Tennessee Community College has a food pantry. A spokesperson says it has a social services coordinator who can connect students with a food pantry located off-campus.