Hickory, KY.---Driving at night in Graves County toward Paducah takes you past the little community of Hickory.  The unique feature about this spot along Highway 45N  is the massive beam of light shooting upwards towards the heavens. This is the light coming from Mid-Continent University’s Advantage office building. 

Much like the boldness of this light against the darkness, the spirit of Mid Continent University reaches towards the world in its mission to offer educational opportunities to “the forgotten students.”  These are the students, that for whatever reason, had to drop out of college before completing their degree.

In the  eight counties of the Jackson Purchase, more than 7,000 ex-students dropped out of college during the past ten years. This is the target market of Mid Continent University. www.midcontinent.edu

Robert Imhoff is the President of Mid Continent University.  He was hired in 2000 and, at that time,  there were only 169 students. Today, enrollment is over 1,600. The reason for this great surge in growth has been the Advantage Program.

 Imhoff often states “The Advantage Program is the reason for our growth. Under this approach, our program allows adults 25 or older to continue their education by attending school one night a week back in their own community.”

The Advantage Program offers classes in Louisville, Fort Campbell, Fulton, Paducah, Mayfield, Calvert City, Grand Rivers, Eddyville, Marion, Morganfield, Morgantown, Henderson, Madisonville, Princeton, Hopkinsville, Russellville, Franklin, Scottsville, Glasgow, Bowling Green, and Harrisburg, Illinois.

The basic premise of the Advantage Program is to allow students who have at least 60 hours completed college credits to work through Mid Continent University and complete degrees in under two years by attending night classes each week.

Central Kentucky is the latest educational market that Mid Continent is offering their special approach to higher education for many who have dropped out of college and who are over 25 years of age.

On their web page, Mid Continent University is advertising Adjunct Faculty Positions to teach in the Louisville area the following courses:

1. Organizational leadership
2. Business/ management/ marking /accountancy
3. Communications/speech
4. Computer science
5. English/history/legal issues
6. Psychology/group dynamics
7. Science
What started on top of a hill in Clinton, Kentucky back in the 1950’s is now reaching out toward the stars. Mid-Continent University is fast becoming a major player in Kentucky’s efforts to train and educate a new work force for the 21st Century Kentucky.