Wallace State Community College
Wallace State Community College made history this year, becoming the first college in the Alabama Community College System to be named a finalist for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. This accolade, given biennially by the Aspen Institute, honors community colleges excelling in teaching, completion rates, workforce success and equitable outcomes. The winner of this prize receives $1 million to enhance its efforts in these areas.
As the fourth largest community college in Alabama, Wallace State boasts some of the highest graduation and completion rates in the nation. It has been designated an Achieving the Dream Leader College, a preferred choice for Alabama high school seniors and the No. 1 Online Community College in Alabama by the Guide to Online Colleges.
Located on a 300-acre campus in Hanceville, Wallace State has additional facilities in Oneonta and serves a broad area including Morgan and Winston counties. It serves about 7,000 students in its more than 200 degree and certificate programs.
Recognized as a Caring Campus, Wallace State has numerous student support services including success advising, tutoring, free mental health counseling, a food pantry, a work wardrobe, career services, an on-campus dental clinic and a lounge for nursing mothers. On and off-campus housing options are available for students from outside the immediate area.
The college’s computer science department has been recognized as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, and the Department of Nursing Education has twice earned the National League for Nursing’s Center of Excellence designation. The nursing program offers dual enrollment options through partnerships with both the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Athens State University, allowing students to work toward an associate and a bachelor’s degree concurrently.
The college is also a Leader College, the highest-level participation, through the National Coalition of Certification Center, a program that focuses on career skills.
Wallace State recently opened an $8.8 million Center for Welding Technology and Innovation and has announced plans for nearly $49 million in new campus construction. This includes a $35 million STEM Gateway building for first-year students, a $9.6 million facility for automotive technology and a $4.2 million building for machine tool technology. Wallace State collaborates with industries like Mercedes-Benz and Kubota to provide apprenticeship and other work-based learning opportunities, including those offered through the FAME advanced manufacturing program.
Wallace State recently opened a new Workforce Training Center on the grounds of REHAU’s automotive manufacturing facility in Cullman. It provides facilities for training programs and services provided by the college’s Center for Career and Workforce Development. With a focus on short-term programs across diverse fields, the center aims to equip individuals with industry-relevant skills, serving as a hub for short-term programs in fields such as liberal arts, applied technology, health sciences and STEM. The college is expanding its reach with the upcoming Winston County Community Learning Center, which will offer classrooms and computer labs for workforce development and adult education.
The college recently has launched several new options related to electric vehicles, including options in advanced automotive services, diesel technology and electrical technology. There also are new options in culinary arts for hotel and restaurant management and nutrition management. The health information technology program has added revenue cycle management and database management to its offerings, along with radiation therapy, artificial intelligence programming, cloud computing and systems engineering technology.
Wallace State has a robust athletics program, with 12 teams in sports such as volleyball, baseball, softball and basketball. An eSports team, international club and intramurals program also are offered.
A Fine and Performing Arts Academy, in partnership with Cullman County Schools, and a new dance program enrich the cultural offerings. The Fine and Performing Arts Academy is one of several offerings for high school students through the Fast Track and Dual Enrollment programs in academic, health science and applied technology programs at Wallace State.
The college is home to the Evelyn Burrow Museum, which is open to the public. Along with its own fine art collection, the museum hosts artwork by other artists and has displayed the work of world-renowned artists such as Andy Warhol, Thomas Mangelson, Daniel Moore, MoseT and many more.
Bevill State Community College
Bevill State has five locations in northwest Alabama, and two locations — Jasper and Sumiton — are in Walker County. Those campuses have 225 full-time employees and 191 part-time employees.
The locations have a service area that spans more than 4,600 square miles in seven counties. Bevill State offers academic programs, career technical education, health sciences, workforce solutions and economic development, and adult education and dual enrollment.
Bevill State partners with local industry, including recent partnerships to expand career opportunities in energy fields. In March, the Alabama Community College System and Bevill State announced plans to develop the Alabama Energy Infrastructure Training Center and Network program. The new program expands on the HVAC Training Center in Jasper, which is a long-standing partnership between Bevill State and Alabama Power. The new building will support training in electric vehicles, connectivity, PV solar/microgrid, HVAC and weatherization. The program also will support remote training at community colleges statewide.
The college received a $2.4 million ADECA grant for the project, meaning that the expansion will include workforce training for certification for the installation, testing, operation and maintenance of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Bevill State also recently launched its new facilities maintenance technology program. It will cover a broad range of technologies, including electrical technology, welding technology, machine tool technology and HVAC.
Bevill State partners with Jasper and Walker County schools for dual enrollment and has several scholarship options — a CTE dual enrollment scholarship provided by the Don Drummond Family Fund through the Walker Area Community Foundation, and Jump-Start scholarship funds provided by the city of Jasper.
This article appears in the November 2024 issue of Business Alabama.
