Community college developments are underway in the Lake Houston area, giving students more higher education options.

More than one year after six of its nine buildings flooded during Hurricane Harvey, Lone Star College-Kingwood fully reopened Jan. 14 for the spring semester. Meanwhile, San Jacinto College plans to break ground on a campus in Generation Park this spring, which will serve as its northernmost campus.

After experiencing declines in course enrollment during rebuilding, LSC-Kingwood began the spring semester in January with 3.9 percent fewer students enrolled in classes than spring 2018, but 5 percent more total courses those students were enrolled in, according to college enrollment data.

“More and more students … that weren’t here this last semester and the spring semester before … have gotten their homes and lives back together, and they are ready to resume their educations,” LSC-Kingwood President Katherine Persson said.

While LSC-Kingwood is finishing rebuilding its campus, SJC is planning to break ground on the first building at its Generation Park campus this spring, SJC Chancellor Brenda Hellyer said.

About 3,000 students will take classes at the building when it opens in 2020, and about 15,000 students will attend the campus when it is fully built, she said. The timeline for build-out of the campus is not confirmed, but Hellyer said she hopes it is in 10 years.

“We’re going to continue the planning [and] envisioning what a campus would look like out there, but I don’t think we will [build-out] right away,” Hellyer said.

Decreasing enrollment, revenue


LSC-Kingwood recorded its highest-ever enrollment in the fall 2017 semester before Harvey hit. After Harvey, most of the classes offered at LSC-Kingwood were moved to an online format due to the loss of classroom space, LSC-Kingwood Director of Facilities Eddie McFadden said.

Prior to the ongoing spring 2019 semester, credit and contact hours declined every semester since Hurricane Harvey, according to Lone Star College System enrollment data.

LSCS Chancellor Stephen Head said the losses in credit and contact hours is important because they affect the college system’s revenue. Credit hours are assigned to courses and determine how much a student pays in tuition, while the state of Texas provides funding to colleges based on contact hours—the amount of time a student spends in the classroom for each course.

Head said the college has lost about $6 million in revenue from state funding and student tuition and fees because of the decreases in credit and contact hours since Harvey.

However, with the college now fully reopened, LSC-Kingwood recorded increases of 4.6 percent and 3.7 percent in credit and contact hours, respectively, for the spring 2019 semester compared to spring 2018. Head said the rise is promising, but he is focused on maintaining these increases in fall 2019.

“The fall enrollments are critical for us because then we know what percentage of high school students we’re getting, and then we can do budgets,” Head said.

Rebuilding process


The flooding at LSC-Kingwood resulted in about $40 million in damages, which the college is covering through flood insurance, and state and federal funding, Head said.

So far, the college has received $10 million in insurance payments and has requested $15 million in funding from the Texas Legislature, which began its 86th session in January. Head said the college hopes to have the rest of the expenses reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

To initially cover all of the reconstruction costs, the college used contingency funds from its $485 million bond program, which voters approved in 2014.

Because the college used bond funds to assist with reconstruction, Head said LSCS had to delay some of its projects by up to six months. This includes the new $27.59 million Healthcare Instructional Building at LSC-Kingwood, which is slated to open in 2021.

Breaking new ground


Most of the area around Generation Park—a 4,000-acre mixed-use development—has been within SJC’s taxing district since the 1960s, but all of the college system’s existing campuses are located east and southeast of Houston. SJC’s North Campus is located about  9 miles away from Generation Park, south of Hwy. 90, Hellyer said.

She said the college system decided it was time to open a campus on the northern edge of its district because of the rapid population growth taking place there. The population of ZIP code 77044—which includes Generation Park—increased from 30,006 to 42,665 from 2011-17, according to Census data.

Hellyer said the college is working with a budget of about $22 million for the first 51,172-square-foot building, which is located on the 57 acres SJC purchased from McCord Development—Generation Park’s developer—in 2015. The college system is funding the project through a mix of revenue acquired after selling land as well as money from its $425 million bond program voters approved in 2015.

SJC will initially focus on offering general academic courses at the new campus, such as English and math for students who are just beginning their educations in the first building, Hellyer said. As the campus develops and more businesses open in Generation Park, SJC will add programs that meet the workforce needs of the area.

“[Workforce programs are] our history; that’s our reputation,” Hellyer said. “That’s what we do, but as the business park builds out, then we will be able to talk with those companies that come in and … design it the right way.”

Ian Adler, director of marketing for McCord Development, said the new SJC campus will be mutual beneficial for both the students attending class at the campus, and the companies that locate to Generation Park.

“We are excited for the opportunity to work with San Jacinto College and tenants of Generation Park to develop a workforce program that is designed to offer practical, real-world education to meet the needs of the Lake Houston community," Adler said.