Dive Brief:
- Austin Community College’s Highland Campus has the layout of a local mall and the amenities of a modern campus, complete with a high-tech learning lab called the ACCelerator in an old J.C. Penney store.
- Campus Technology reports the college repurposed the mall for its new campus to create a space that people in the community already felt comfortable going to — and the effort has paid off with more unique visitors than the campus even enrolls.
- The ACCelerator has seen great success with adaptive learning software for developmental math coursework, increasing pass and retention rates while lowering the withdrawal rate for black and Latino students, specifically, by half.
Dive Insight:
The redesigned mall property is a stunning, glass- and light-filled modern space that gives community members a comfortable reminder of what used to be there but confusing no one in its newness. The ACCelerator has 600 computers for student use and often draws students who want a nice place to study or to meet a group rather than those who are required to be there for classes or other sessions. Rather than building from the ground up, other campuses might consider turning a former community landmark into their newest college building.