Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Phyllis Noah, Communications Coordinator
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu or pnoah@shawnee.edu
Web site: www.shawnee.edu

Shawnee State University in Cooperation With Scioto County ABLE Offers GED Courses Year Round

            Shawnee State University, in cooperation with Scioto County Adult Basic Literacy Education (ABLE), offers courses year round to anyone in the community who is interested in obtaining their GED.
            “There were previously two sites, a county site and a SSU site but recently the two were combined to make Scioto County ABLE,” Marcia Tolliver, BASICS coordinator, said.
            The Shawnee State University site is called Shawnee Basic Adult Skills in College Setting (BASICS) and is available year round.
            “We offer more than just the GED course,” “We also offer a college brush- up course for students.”
            The brush-up course is for students who have a high school diploma and want to brush up on their skills before entering college.
            James Messer, was a student in the program for two months. He is now a freshman at SSU
            “Before I got my GED, I had trouble getting a job because employers want educated people,” Messer said.
            Along with attending the GED courses, Messer also was a student in the college brush-up course.
            Two orientations are scheduled every Monday and Tuesday at SSU. On Mondays, orientation is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and every Tuesday, orientations are at 5 p.m.
            The program is a preparation course and is completely free. The GED test itself is $40.
            Some students in this program can expect to be in the course a week and others may be in the course six months.
            Several locations are available for taking the courses. These locations can be found in the Northwest Family Resource Center, Career Tech Center, Minford High School, South Webster, Portsmouth and SSU.
            The program is funded through a grant from the Ohio Board of Regents and is considered part of the University System of Ohio.

###