STAFF REPORT
Austin Community College will celebrate the groundbreaking of its new Hays Campus at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 27. The public event – featuring live music, a college fair, and refreshments – will be at the Hays CISD Performing Arts Center at 979 Kohlers Crossing in Kyle, across from the future campus site.
“ACC is extremely proud to serve in a community that values the education of its citizens,” Dr. Richard Rhodes, ACC president/CEO, said in a news release. “Through the partnership between ACC and Hays CISD residents, the area gains critical access to affordable higher education and career training, which benefit everyone.”
Construction of the campus follows the November 2010 annexation of Hays CISD into the ACC taxing district. Residents immediately became eligible for the in-district tuition rate at all ACC locations.
“It is great to see the campus coming to fruition,” Vince Collier, a Hays CISD resident who co-chaired the annexation steering committee, also said in a news release. “This will bring such incredible opportunities to families and the next generation of our workforce. It opens up higher education to people who may not have been able to consider it before.”
Hays Campus will be on 98 acres at Kohlers Crossing and Kyle Parkway. The three-story structure will offer core curriculum/academic transfer courses and career education in specialized business programs, computer networking and security, child development, first responder programs, and more. Construction begins later this summer.
ACC summer registration continues through May 23. Fall registration is under way for current and former students and begins June 11 for new students.
