Nelson student was among top graduates in ’08

By Erin McGrath

Published: August 13, 2008

Jacob Neal, a Nelson County resident and student at Piedmont Virginia Community College, was named to the 2008 All-USA Academic First Team by USA Today last spring.

The program, also sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges and Phi Theta Kappa, recognizes 20 community college students per year.

Neal, 20, graduated from PVCC in May, earning an associate degree in science and a career study certificate in personal computer repair.

Now, he’s transferring to the University of Virginia to pursue a bachelor’s degree in science, which has always been the plan, Neal said.

“It was always a plan to transfer somewhere,” Neal said. “Now where, that was not determined. I’ve always liked UVa. Fortunately, as a Virginia resident, we’ve got a lot of good options here.”

Last school year, Neal was a member of the largest student body PVCC had seen in more than five years.

During the 2007-2008 school term, 6,598 students attended PVCC in Charlottesville. During the 2006-2007 term, that number was 6,489.

Between 2002 and 2005, the number of students rose as high as 6,586 and dipped as low as 6,239.

Frank Friedman, president of PVCC, said he attributes the increased enrollment to several different factors.

“It’s very hard to pinpoint one exact thing,” Friedman said. “One I would think would be is when the economy and the job market gets tight, people often return to higher education to increase their skills.”

Friedman said the school has also seen an increase in the dual enrollment program, where high school students can take college level courses tuition free. He said they expect 900 students to enroll in the program for the fall semester.

Friedman said the school expects 750 people to take online courses during the next semester.

“We’ve had a very significant increase in the number of people taking internet courses,” Friedman said. “With gas prices the way they are, it saves people the time and expense of driving to campus.”

In 2007, 188 Nelson County residents attended PVCC, a fall from 2006, where 198 students were enrolled.

The peak of PVCC enrollment for Nelson residents was 272 in 2002.  The most students PVCC had ever seen were 7,402 students during the 1987-1988 school year.

Friedman calls the school’s growth a “challenge.”

“We’re very tight on space,” Friedman said. “We’re going to break ground next month on a brand new science building. That will go a long way to alleviate some of our space problems.”

Neal, the soon-to-be UVA student and graduate of PVCC, said his time at the community college was advantageous to his education.

“I was a home school student so until going to community college I had never attended any kind of structured, so to say, education system,” Neal said. “For me, it was a very, very good transition, especially with smaller classes and more personable teachers.”

His answer when asked if he would do it all over again the same way?

“Absolutely.”