Great Bay's New Associate Degree Trains Students to Become Helicopter Pilots

It's not go fly a kite; it's go fly a helicopter for students signing up for Great Bay's new associate's degree program in aviation technology.

In fact, when fall classes start Monday at the community college campuses in Portsmouth and in Rochester, students will find the sky may just be the limit, with opportunities to enroll in a new engineering associate's degree program and a biotech associate's program, along with an improved program in advanced composites manufacturing.

According to Shannon Reid, communications director for the Community College System of New Hampshire, the changes are part of ongoing efforts to help people find skilled, high-paying jobs.

Great Bay has specialized in composites manufacturing in response to the number of area companies seeking skilled workers able to manufacture fiber jet engine parts, she said.

The other six community colleges also are specialized to reflect the demand jobs in their areas, she said.

But the schools also offer traditional liberal arts classes for students who plan to earn a community college degree and then transfer to a four-year institution.

Reid said the community colleges are trying to help students seeking affordable education, and the focus has been on two groups. One group has included students hoping to complete two years at community college and
then continue in higher education, after saving a substantial sum on college tuition, she said. The other group has included people seeking an affordable way into the trades.

Given the fact tuitions at New Hampshire's community and state colleges are comparatively higher than at other state's public schools, an effort has been ongoing to help students reduce the cost of an education, Reid said.

The community college enrollments remain at historic highs, she said, even though the numbers have dropped over the past two or three years from the peak in 2011.