St. Louis Community College is modernizing facilities and programming to meet the job training and retraining demands of Missouri.
Thanks to the citizens of the St. Louis region who voted to approve Proposition R in 2021, we’re moving forward with STLCC Transformed. Collectively, this initiative aims to bring the College into a more modern standing by providing facilities and programming for the growth and competitiveness of our region.
We understand that voters are interested in how we will move forward with the use of the funds supplied by the passing of Prop R. And so, as part of the College's commitment to transparency and responsible spending, this web page aims to share details on the progress of STLCC Transformed.
This is an exciting time because the College is moving forward with plans to construct seven new buildings at its four main campuses as part of the STLCC Transformed initiative. While a lot of pre-planning has happened already, major changes are about to get underway as the College prepares to begin construction.
Before breaking ground, students, employees and community members are invited to attend STLCC Transformed information sessions to learn about the projects, timelines and plans for the future.
*Photos courtesy of Arcturis
Campus Forums: In the fall of 2022, College leaders hosted campus forums to bring students, employees and community members up to date on STLCC Transformed. These forums were facilitated by Jeff L. Pittman, Ph.D., chancellor, and Hart Nelson, chief operating officer, and included details on the planning, programming, building and funding for each project.
Missed the forums? View the presentation to learn more.
Input is key! To leverage the expertise and input of our stakeholders, the College formed and continues to work with various groups to develop and review plans for these projects. Here’s a snapshot of some of these teams.
This team is composed of several CEO's from some of the largest employers, agencies and institutions in the St. Louis region.
This team engages College alumni to collect input on the decision-making process.
These teams are composed of faculty and staff members who have volunteered to provide input into the ideas and vision created by the College Transformation Steering Committee.
This team is composed of the College’s executive leadership group, campus presidents and vice presidents of student affairs.
This committee has been working in concert with the architectural firm Arcturis to develop and refine plans. View the current planning documents.
Arcturis conducted an extensive review of STLCC’s four campuses and developed a master facility plan for the College.
*Photos courtesy of Arcturis
These are very exciting times at the College for our students and employees, as well as for the entire St. Louis region as we move forward with significant changes on our campuses. We understand you may have questions as we work to complete the STLCC Transformed projects. For the fastest response, please send all inquiries related to STLCC Transformed to stlcctransformed@stlcc.edu
For more information on the College's latest projects and proposals, please contact STLCC's engineering and design team.
Skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and accounting and finance are among the top skills in demand by St. Louis area employers. In 2020, more than 50% of businesses reported the need for middle-skill employees to address workforce shortages. A shortage of workers with knowledge or skills remains the primary barrier to expanding employment.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of a diverse economy with a labor force of over 1.3 million people. The top employment sectors are healthcare and social assistance, wholesale and retail trade. Over the past decade, there has been tremendous growth in the finance and insurance sector as well. Overall, the St. Louis economy added over 93,000 employees in the past 10 years through 2019.
STLCC students hold almost 50% of the region’s total jobs in the healthcare sector.
Nearly half of the region’s population aged 25 and older have a high school diploma but no post-secondary degree, lower than the state rate of 52%; 44% have an associate’s degree or greater, higher than both the state rate (37%) and the national rate (42%).
The average associate degree graduate from STLCC will see an increase in earnings of $10,000 each year compared to someone with a high school diploma working in Missouri.
Data continues to show that education pays off in both median earnings and lower unemployment rates. St. Louis MSA data for 2019 shows that having some college or an associate’s degree versus just a high school diploma reduces the average unemployment rate by 1.6% and provides $7,825 annually in average extra earnings. A bachelor’s degree or higher further reduces the unemployment rate by 1.7% and increases median earnings.
Annually, STLCC’s impact on St. Louis is $2 billion, which is approximately 2% of the entire St. Louis area economy.
STLCC is committed to moving St. Louis forward by:
STLCC is the St. Louis region’s largest educational institution. Every year, 50,000 credit and non-credit students enroll at STLCC.
A ‘typical” student at STLCC is enrolled part time and is juggling multiple responsibilities including work, childcare and other personal responsibilities.
More than 1.3 million students have furthered their education at STLCC since 1962. In addition, it is estimated that more than half of the households in the St. Louis region have at least one resident who has attended STLCC at one point or another.
The length of each program is different, but STLCC strives to meet the needs of all students and employers and has found new ways to provide training and retraining. For example, the College offers short-term credentials, such as non-certificate programs, Certificates of Specialization
and Certificates of Proficiency, to quickly prepare workers. These credentials are then stackable to align with longer-term degrees and beyond to offer a career pathway.
As of spring 2021, there were more than unfilled 2,500 nursing jobs and 2,000 computer coding jobs alone available in the St. Louis region.
The College continues to have a waitlist for its nursing and respiratory care programs, while other healthcare programs such as radiologic technology, dental hygiene, diagnostic medical sonography, physical therapist assistant and surgical technology are typically at or close to capacity. The College has also seen growth in information technology programs along with career training in areas such as automotive and construction-based programs. Employers still need more graduates in programs such as computer programming, cybersecurity and other IT applications. All of these programs help local employers find the employees they need and provide a pathway for individuals in low-wage jobs into well-paying careers. Overall, this cycle is a boost to our regional economy.
Every year, College leadership reviews enrollment numbers and area workforce needs to update its program offerings. Since 2014, 110 programs have been updated, 20 have been added and 59 have been deactivated.
The College works diligently to balance its budget year to year. These efforts have involved reducing expenses for programs with few students and offering Voluntary Retirement Incentive programs to help reduce salary costs.
The average tuition cost for an STLCC student who is a resident of the district is around $3,500, which is higher than the Missouri average for community college tuition, which is around $3,400 per year, and the national average of $3,340. Quality, affordable community college courses allow students to access life-changing education without accruing large debts. STLCC is committed to keeping tuition costs affordable.
Most of the buildings at the three main campuses (Meramec, Forest Park and Florissant Valley) were built in the 1960s, 60 years ago. Since then, careers, training and technology have changed dramatically, and the learning spaces needed to prepare today’s students are also very different.
The 60-year-old buildings have antiquated building systems and infrastructure, as well as disjointed, small rooms that lack the infrastructure to support the needs of the current educational programming and priorities. There is also an insufficient amount of laboratory and multipurpose flexible spaces but an overstock of large, underutilized, low-demand inflexible spaces such as gymnasiums, pools, and cafeterias.
Each year, the College spends approximately $4.3 million on repairs and maintenance of its buildings. More than $150 million in maintenance, repairs and updates have been identified through formal facility studies.
STLCC opened the Center for Nursing and Health Sciences at Forest Park in 2019. The Center features the latest technology and hands-on clinical learning spaces to help address the St. Louis region's growing healthcare workforce needs. More than 900 students per year prepare for careers in nursing and health science professions in this building.
This $40 million facility was built through a combination of private donations and a small bond issue that was paid for through the general operating fund and the sale of the College’s downtown corporate office building. This type of funding is not available to meet the more than $350 million in facility needs and additional program updates necessary to meet the needs of students and local employers.