Junior Colleges

[JACKGUYII]

Does anyone know why no Junior Colleges were ever esstablished in the state? I don't recall if Yankton College was a Junior College. I hate to see a community like Huron lose a college, but always felt South Dakota has too many Public and Private Universities for the population of the state.

[filbert]

Re: Junior Colleges

South Dakota has a system of public junior colleges--they're called "Technical Institutes" but for all extents and purposes they're two year colleges (and listed as such in the Carnegie Foundation report):

http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/Cl...tIfiles/AA.htm

[Rodentia]

Re: Junior Colleges

Interesting. The technical colleges used to be seperate from the degree-granting 2-year colleges. One example that I am familiar with is Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, MN. It used to be two seperate institutions, the College, and the AVTI (Area Vocational Technical Institute, and old name).

The SD Technical Colleges (offering Associate of Applied Science Degrees) are more technically oriented than Northland is (offering both Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate of Applied Science degrees). It's all a matter of structure. I would imagine that those who are seeking AA and AS degreed probably attend SD's four year colleges.

[filbert]

Re: Junior Colleges

Even more interesting is that they're not under the control of the Board of Regents. They're shared between the State Dept. of Education and the local school districts (their origin was in high-school-related vo-techs).

[Rabbitlivinginverm]

Re: Junior Colleges

I do believe the BOR is working with the governing bodies of technical schools to "parallel" the coursework. This will allow credits to transfer more smoothly from vo-tech to university and university to vo-tech. Vo-techs are great insistutions to have in S.D. As filbert stated earlier, they're called vo-techs, but they're more like 2 year colleges.

[Rabbit74]

Re: Junior Colleges

As indicated above the four technical institutes in South Dakota are under the local school districts. They dropped the terminology of vo-techs several years ago. Like the k-12 schools, they have some accountability to the State Board of Education. They are not junior colleges. There is a long history of strained relationship between them and the Board of Regents. If the technical institutes were to change to junior colleges, the state constitution indicates they would move to the control of the Board of Regents. (All public higher education in South Dakota is under the BOR and there is therefore discussion as to whether the technical institutes are higher ed or not.) The differences between junior colleges and vo-tech's are sometimes failry subtle. Technical Institutes offer AAS degrees (associate of applied science) where junior colleges normally offer AA (associate of arts degrees). Junior colleges offer programs that were readily transferrable to senior colleges. Technical institutes traditionally offered programs that in general were terminal and were not meant to be preparative for senior college or transferable to senior colleges. In recent years there has been a blurring of the differences. The technical institutes in South Dakota and Board of Regents have worked our articulation agreements which allow many of the courses taken at the technical institutes to be transferred. Such articulation agreements are not required for junior colleges due to the differences in accrediation.

[JackJD]

Re: Junior Colleges

I was certain some wag would suggest USD was a junior college!

[Dakota]

Re: Junior Colleges

One of the institutional staples of Yankton had always been Yankton College, which was founded in 1881 and was the oldest private college in Dakota. However, the college was struggling financially by the 1970s and, in 1984, it closed its doors after 103 years. It was a sad end to the old college, but it also offered a new beginning for Yankton. The federal government purchased the property and opened the Yankton Federal Prison Camp in 1988. In the process, the campus was renovated and the facility has become an important employer in the local economy.

One of my favorite football players growing up played their Lyle Alzado. Also remember back then that their was a USD-Springfield campus also who had their own sports programs.

Currently only college in Yankton is Mount Marty (Catholic Benedictine)

[filbert]

Re: Junior Colleges

One of the institutional staples of Yankton had always been Yankton College, which was founded in 1881 and was the oldest private college in Dakota. However, the college was struggling financially by the 1970s and, in 1984, it closed its doors after 103 years. It was a sad end to the old college, but it also offered a new beginning for Yankton. The federal government purchased the property and opened the Yankton Federal Prison Camp in 1988. In the process, the campus was renovated and the facility has become an important employer in the local economy.

One of my favorite football players growing up played their Lyle Alzado. Also remember back then that their was a USD-Springfield campus also who had their own sports programs.

Currently only college in Yankton is Mount Marty (Catholic Benedictine)

Wow, Kid Dakota, you went back and read the original post!