Francis B. Allgood
fallgood@gsabusiness.com
Published June 17, 2009

Another school catering to the nontraditional college students has opened in Greenville, this time in downtown.

Brown Mackie College has opened an office and will occupy 25,000 square feet at 75 Beattie Place in Greenville. Classes will begin in October following the renovation of the basement and the first two floors at Two Liberty Square.

Rescom Construction is performing the tenant upfit, including administrative offices, a library, classrooms and laboratories.

Karen Burgess, pictured, president of the Greenville campus, expects 40 students to enroll by October. Within a year, enrollment is projected to be 500. Burgess previously served as president and executive director of the Metropolitan Career Center in Philadelphia.

“We are going to be reaching out to really partner with the employers,” she said. “Greenville is a great town, and the growth pattern here is faster than the national average.”

Webster University and ITT Technical Institute first entered the Greenville market in 1992. ECPI College of Technology opened in 2000, followed by Strayer University in 2003 and Virginia College in 2008.

Brown Mackie’s parent company is Pittsburgh-based Education Management LLC. EDMC also operates Argosy University, Western State University College of Law, The Art Institutes and South University.

Brown Mackie has 21 other locations. The nearest campus to the Upstate is in Atlanta.

“We will build on our reputation and really focus on quality,” Burgess said.

The college will offer bachelor’s degrees in business administration, criminal justice, legal studies and health care management. The Greenville campus also will awards certificates in accounting, business, criminal justice, medical assistant and paralegal assistant, and associate degrees in applied sciences.

“We offer one course per month with the flexibility to meet our students’ needs,” Burgess said. “We offer small classes during the day and evenings.”

One of the reasons Brown Mackie chose downtown Greenville was the availability of transportation.

“Public transportation is important to some of our students,” she said.

Brown Mackie will offer free parking for students at the parking garage next to the Bi-Lo Center.

The college has hired 12 in administrative staff and sales. Burgess is seeking a dean who will hire the faculty.