Alabama’s community colleges provide an affordable education and workforce development that prepares students for in-demand careers, from accounting, nursing and cosmetology to computer information systems and manufacturing.
Besides these traditional fields, community colleges also offer some innovative and even surprising courses of study.
Here are details about just a few.
Funeral Services
At Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham, a cohort of students are learning how to care for the dead and those in mourning.
The Funeral Service Education Program curriculum at Jefferson State includes the mortuary sciences, law and ethics, the social science of grief and loss, service management, embalming, restorative arts and thanotochemistry, which is a basic study of inorganic, organic, biological and embalming chemistry.
Students also are required to complete embalming and restorative arts labs and an apprenticeship at a funeral home in the state where they want to practice, says Venus Smith, program coordinator for the Funeral Service Education Program at Jefferson State Community College.
“We want students to work in funeral homes while they’re going to school so they can gain hands-on experience and hopefully guarantee themselves a job once they get through school,” Smith says.
Students who complete three consecutive semesters can earn a non-accredited, 27-hour certificate or a 30-hour certificate if they live in states that require more hours of study for working in funeral homes.
But students desiring to become licensed funeral directors or licensed embalmers must complete four consecutive semesters to earn an associate of applied science degree in funeral service education.
Afterward, students have two choices. They can pass the National Board Exam with the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards and become licensed to practice in Alabama and in other states or pass the state exam to practice only in Alabama.
Derek Glenn, from DeFuniak Springs, Florida, says his father owns a funeral home in his hometown, and for years, he often pitched in to help.
But after working funerals, earning a Master of Divinity degree and spending several years in ministry, Glenn says he enrolled in Jefferson State’s funeral services program to earn a degree and join his father’s business full time.
“I would say the chemistry class has been the most challenging for me personally,” says Glenn, “just because my background is in theology. We never had to cover anything in that realm, so, it was just kind of new.”
But as a remote student, Glenn says he was able to complete his apprenticeship at his family’s funeral home.
“In a real sense, the funeral industry is a form of ministry where we can serve people in times of need, where they’re at a low spot, we can come in and take care of things in a professional way.”
Veterinary Technology
Veterinary technicians are licensed professionals who carry out veterinarians’ treatment plans.
Their duties can include surgical assisting, emergency and critical care, dental care, nursing care and diagnostic imaging. They also supervise veterinary assistants, manage the business side of veterinary clinics and explain treatment plans to anxious pet parents, farmers and others.
At the Southern Union State Community College campus in Valley, students can now enroll in a two-year veterinary technology program that launched last fall.
The program has a selective admissions process, so once students are admitted to Southern Union State, they must apply separately to the vet tech program. The program lasts for four semesters and all classes are held on campus. To graduate, students must earn 71 credits, which includes 19 prerequisite hours in core academic courses.
“We’re certainly seeing a lot of interest in the program, and certainly those students that feel they would be more academically challenged or prepared for the workforce with a hands-on campus program, are looking at Southern Union,” says Hayley Pritchard, program director for Southern Union’s Veterinary Technology program.
Upon graduation, the newly minted vet techs must pass board exams if they want to become licensed to work in Alabama.
Alabama requires vet tech graduates to pass both the national and state board exams. But those who want to work in other states must follow board exam requirements set in those states.
Cayli Harrelson, of Tallassee, says she grew up knowing she wanted to work with animals one day.
“As far as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with dogs,” she says.
After years of working as an assistant at kennels and veterinary clinics, Harrelson recalls the day she spotted an announcement on Facebook about the new vet tech program at Southern Union and decided to apply.
She now makes the hour-long commute to Valley four days a week for classes in the mornings and labs and clinics in the afternoons, she says.
During her first semester, Harrelson and her classmates studied animal anatomy and learned about various exotic pets such as snakes, parrots, rats and lizards and visited the Georgia Aquarium for a hands-on experience with penguins.
“That was really exciting,” says Harrelson. “I’ll never forget that.”
Harrelson says she expects to graduate this December.
“I still want to be in a small animal practice right now,” she says. “But long term, I want to specialize in canine rehabilitation.
“The program is going to help me excel in my career and hopefully, I’ll be able to go anywhere I want.”
Ambulance Operator
Ambulance operators play a critical role in caring for patients in need of emergency transport to a hospital or a ride home.
The ACCS Innovation Center, a division of the Alabama Community College System, and the Skills for Success program, works with community colleges across the state to provide hands-on job training like the ambulance operator training course.
The training courses are free of charge and put students on the fast-track to employment.
In the ambulance operator course, students learn how to transport patients, navigate traffic and tight spaces and perform other skills such as basic life support, airway management, trauma response, assessing patients and the handling of hazardous materials.
Students also practice scenarios and learn what to do when a patient is having a heart attack, stroke or is choking.
Enterprise State Community College piloted the ambulance operator program, and the course is now available at the other 23 community colleges around the state, says Kailah Dozier, director of marketing and corporate partnerships with the Alabama Community College System.
Dozier says, “Our goal for 2025 is to generate more interest in this course. There’s a big need, and we’re actively collaborating with multiple emergency services groups, particularly the state EMS director, to promote and integrate this course into their ongoing training and employment opportunities.”
Aviation
For anyone in the Black Belt region interested in the study of flight, Wallace Community College Selma’s aviation program consists of two components, flight awareness and training courses.
The awareness component includes an annual Aviation Day, aviation summer camps and an introduction to a mobile flight simulation lab where high school and college students can explore aviation.
On the other hand, the aviation training component includes noncredit and credit courses.
The non-credit classes include lessons to earn a private pilot’s license and instruction for flying drones.
On the credit pathway, students can earn an associate of science degree with an emphasis in aviation and transfer to a university for a bachelor’s degree.
WCCS Associate Dean of Learning Lula Snowden says, “We’re excited and committed to providing high-quality educational opportunities that will prepare our students for the high-wage, high-demand opportunities in the aviation field.”
Gail Allyn Short, Joe De Sciose and Julie Bennett are freelance contributors to Business Alabama. Short and De Sciose are based in Birmingham; Bennett is based in Auburn.
This article appears in the April 2025 issue of Business Alabama.
