Kathryn Pedigo, director of the Texas State University System Polk County Center, and several instructors from the center recently presented programs for both the Rotary Club of Livingston and the Livingston Lions Club, sharing all the exciting opportunities that are now being provided at the local center.
“First of all, we are not Angelina College,” Pedigo said emphatically. “We are the Texas State University System with seven colleges in the system. We are actually three individual campuses at a shared site that offers associates degrees and certifications.”
Founded in 1911, the Texas State University System (TSUS) is the first higher education system established in Texas. Today, it includes seven institutions across the state including: three two-year colleges (Lamar State College Orange, Lamar State College Port Arthur and Lamar Institute of Technology) and four four-year universities (Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, Sul Ross State University and Texas State University).
All three two-year colleges (Lamar State College Orange, Lamar State College Port Arthur and Lamar Institute of Technology) are located at the Polk County Center and began offering dual credit courses to Livingston ISD students in fall 2023. Today, these three colleges now provide a variety of career-focused programs in areas such as nursing, commercial driving, teaching, medical assisting, criminal justice, emergency medical technology, business and more.
Students may earn stackable credentials, certificates and associate degrees without ever leaving Polk County. This collaborative partnership places special emphasis on affordability and access, ensuring Polk County residents have the opportunity to pursue college and workforce training close to home.
“We offer a variety of certifications all the way up to associates degrees. We have something for everyone no matter where you are on your educational journey,” Pedigo said, commenting on the strong interest in bringing back the GED program. Previously offered through a grant that had expired, upon coming onboard at the center, Pedigo was surprised to receive over 100 inquiries from people expressing interest in the program.
It was brought back free of charge thanks to Lamar State College Port Arthur, has been up and running for a month and has approximately 20 students enrolled who are taught by a local retired educator.
Continuing education courses are offered, including bookkeeping, conversational Spanish, intro to computers, Quickbooks and Microsoft Excel, just to name a few.
In addition to the two fulltime employees and parttime testing coordinator, there is an adjunct faculty.
“Our numbers are expanding. Our typical enrollment is 60-70 and right now, we’re nearing 100. A lot of people are starting to learn who we are and what we offer,” Pedigo said.
“And we have a very big presence in the local school districts,” she added, referring to the local high school students who are enrolled in dual credit courses.
Both traditional 16-week courses, as well as shorter eight-week courses, are offered at the center, with the eight-week courses being the most common offered. In-person, online and hybrid courses are all offered. Students also have the opportunity to become core-complete, which means they have successfully finished the required general education core curriculum at a college or university.
Pedigo stressed that because the TSUS Polk County Center is accredited, every “core-complete” course taken will transfer to any school in the state of Texas, so a student may get core complete locally and then transfer out.
TSUS Polk County Center has partnered with Sam Houston State University and Texas State University to allow students to earn their associates degrees and then seamlessly transfer to earn their bachelor’s degrees.
Pedigo said the center partners strongly with Workforce Solutions of Deep East Texas to gain research into the growing trends in this area. “We try to offer trades, high demand certificates, but finances are sometimes an issue. Effective July 1, the government said we could use FAFSA funds for workforce, and grants to help with tuition.
“We are very, very small and we do hope to grow. We’re real excited about the growth that is happening here. The way that we’ve grown is because we’ve listened to you. We hear from you regarding what is needed and see if we can offer that,” she said.
Pedigo invited several of her instructors to speak.
Jessica Fant is an instructor for Lamar State College Orange. She teaches English, business and Spanish and said that many local home school students get their foreign language credit through her class.
Abel Gonzalez is an instructor for Lamar Institute of Technology. He teaches ESL (English as a second language) for adults. The classes are offered in the evenings so people can participate after work. He said he has professionals, as well as people who are just starting to learn English. He said there are many others in the community who are not integrated. He said he is tailoring the courses for specific industries (restaurant, construction, health care), mostly focusing on offering the vocational courses.
Paul Cumberledge is a CDL instructor for Lamar State College Port Arthur and spent 34 years as a truck driver. He said his typical students are older and wanting a job change due to economic reasons, although he is starting to see an increase in 18-20-year-olds. He said he wants to teach the students how to be a truck driver, not just how to get a license. He said he wants them to be educated and well-informed. He said he takes great pride in teaching the aspects of the industry in which he can build futures and build leaders.
Anna Bennett has taught phlebotomy in Livingston, Jasper and Lumberton. She said there are some wonderful sites and the students can get hired if they really want it. She said they listen to what the doctors want and have had some really good successes.
“All of our instructors are very enthusiastic and love what they do. I truly enjoy my job as well. Hopefully you can see that we are changing lives and we’re very committed to what we do,” Pedigo said.
The Texas State University System Polk County Center is located at 1015 US 59 Loop North in Livingston. For more information, go to https://pcc.tsus.edu/.
