Teresa Powers, director of Newberry County Economic Development, names three keys to turning out more jobs, and the third option, open to the county’s 10.6 percent unemployed, may now be more practical with what local colleges are presenting.

Powers says new county jobs would come from:

• Expansion of current companies which would require more workers;

• Influx of new companies in the county, opening new jobs;

• A more qualified work force or more workers with high school diplomas, two-year and four-year degrees or specific skill training.

While county representatives like Powers take steps in the first two options, Newberry’s two local colleges have news that may make the third “more marketable” step towards more jobs easier.

Newberry College announced last month it would not raise tuition for the upcoming year and Piedmont Technical College declares its affordable education can be part of the solution to the economic downturn.

NEWBERRY COLLEGE

“We are enormously pleased that Newberry College is in the position to hold tuition constant when other institutions are imposing exorbitant increases in this time of economic stress,” said Newberry College President Mitchell Zais.

For this year and next, annual tuition costs for a full-time student stays put at $20,500.

And during a time when many colleges are suffering repeated funding blows, Newberry College’s only hit has been having $1 million less to spend from its endowment interest.

Not that the private college’s endowment has decreased. Financial giving has actually gone up.

“Because of the stock market doing so poorly, we were unable to take any interest this year,” said Chuck Wendt, vice president for institutional advancement and college spokesman. “Up until this year, we were allowed to use interest on our endowment.”

“Our gifts are actually ahead of last year, so we’re sitting in a real good position,” said Wendt. But the school is not financially “fat by any means,” he said.

But with record-high enrollment at Newberry College last fall, and tuition, fees and room and board payments being the school’s chief income source, the institution was cushioned enough to keep tuition costs stable.

“We’re financially viable and enrollment is up because of outstanding programs,” said Wendt. “Newberry College has obviously become a school of choice for more and more people and that’s obviously good for us.”

PIEDMONT TECH

Piedmont Technical College on the other hand, as a public institution, has been hit hard by the economic hard times and faced more than $1.8 million in cuts from state funding in the past year.

But with its highest-ever enrollment this spring of 5,212 students, the seven-campus school, which is funded 34.6 percent by tuition, has gotten a bit of a boost.

“Our student body is the sustaining force of this institution, and a larger student population will enable us to offset some of these budget cuts,” said Ray Brooks, president of Piedmont Technical College.

Typically, school enrollment increases during recessions as workers return to classrooms to learn new job skills, said Josh Black, director of Piedmont’s marketing and public relations department.

“People are looking for the best value for their money,” said Brooks. “They’re seeing that getting an education here will give them the skills they need to get well-paying jobs, and they can get back into the work force with a more marketable skill set.”

And while being a more marketable worker doesn’t guarantee a job, Powers says college can help a resume stand out in an employer’s growing stack of applications.

“If you don’t come with the skill sets, it’s going to be difficult to compete, especially in today’s environments,” said Powers. “You’ve got a lot of people competing...They’re going to pick the most qualified person.”