of the town.
In our assessment of where to go from there, it was fairly obvious that we needed to put renewed emphasis on the quality of the whole program, not just academics but student activities as well... we gradually paid off everything except a long-term note that goes until 2010. We gradually built up enrollment to 1600 which helped us pay to pay off the debt, after which we cut back enrollment by 100 students a year to remain competitive until we hit 1200... We saw very soon that we could not develop the college from an academic standpoint separate from the community. The Blue Ridge Institute highlighted the heritage and people of our community. Many people came to the Folk Life Festivals who had never been on the Ferrum Campus before.
Many of the junior colleges of the 1950s and 1960s began to transition either into the new community college model or otherwise to transform into four-year colleges; Ferrum Junior College was in an increasingly untenable position. In response, the school moved to attract …
