Enrollment growth has SWCID officials looking for dorm space

October 29, 2011

After more than 30 years, SouthWest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf is about to become a property owner.

SWCID, the nation's largest community college for the deaf and hard of hearing, has been leasing its property from the U.S. Department of Education, but that situation is about to change.

Dr. Cheryl Sparks, president of Howard College, which oversees SWCID operations, said the school is close to completing a transaction that will make the junior college district owners of most of the SWCID property.

With clear title to the land, college officials will have a freer hand in making improvements and additions to the campus, and a top priority in that area is increasing living space for SWCID students.

The college has experienced an enrollment increase of almost 100 percent in the past few years and, as a result, student housing is at a premium, Sparks noted.

“Because of SWCID's growth, we literally don't have enough dorm space,” she said.

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