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Higher education at our doorstep?
The possibility of increasing the options for higher education in the county is tempting, and rightly so.
Now that talks are again active regarding expansion plans in Loudoun for a major university and community college, it's time for county and Leesburg officials to get serious about making this happen.
Times are tough economically, but the importance of getting a full-service George Mason University campus here, along with a second Northern Virginia Community College campus, remains paramount.
Increasing higher education would mean strengthening our workforce, allowing high school students to enroll in college-level courses and bringing a new revenue stream from academia to the county and/or Town of Leesburg.
The Board of Supervisors, the Town of Leesburg, GMU and NVCC deserve praise for initiating a feasibility study to look into expanding the schools' campuses in the county. The county's funding of the study is $34,000, while Leesburg's is half that amount. It is taxpayers' money well spent.
GMU says it's excited about our county's growth projections. We should be excited about the value Mason would bring to the county's education and business community.
Among the possible sites mentioned is land contiguous to the Brambleton Town Center in Ashburn. One viable option, according to a veteran supervisor, is that the commercially zoned land could be leased back by the developer to GMU and/or NVCC at a below-average rate. It would only need a special-exception permit to be approved. Density and the influx of traffic would make eastern Loudoun a good fit for such a campus.
A joint GMU-NVCC campus has even been discussed. Greenvest in 2006 offered to give land to GMU near Arcola as part of a plan to build thousands of homes south of Washington Dulles International Airport. However, supervisors nixed the Dulles South proposal in November of that year.
In any case, don't expect the town and/or county to foot the entire bill. GMU, which already offers classes in Sterling at the Ridgetop II office park and NVCC, which has a Loudoun presence off Route 7 in Sterling (enrollment 10,000), must be ready to pay their fair share. Don't expect a Prince William County scenario from the supervisors or the Leesburg Town Council – Prince William County purchased the land for a GMU campus at no charge to Mason.
Somehow, someway – whether the schools are located in Leesburg or elsewhere in the county – the onus is on the business community, local lawmakers and state legislators to take action. Granted, Richmond is broke too, but the General Assembly needs to get involved.
Demands are overwhelming for the traditional college student in Loudoun, as well as for those seeking post-graduate degrees. An excellent opportunity exists for the county and/or Leesburg to step up and make it happen.
Mason didn't pay for space in Arlington, Fairfax, or Prince William - why would they change their model for Loudoun?! Remember, with the cut backs in state funding, state universities lose money on increasing in state enrollment, and they don't have any reason to park out of state enrollment in Loudoun. If we want a campus in Loudoun, of Mason or any other major institution, we'd better be at least willing to give them the LAND. How many successful public universities can you name that have to buy or rent their land? Maybe if they charge GW tuition levels to Loudoun County residents...
Posted by areader
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