A gift from Whitworth

Education is a gift.

The opportunity to pursue a four-year degree while still living and working in your hometown is a bonus.

The Spokane-based Whitworth University is doing just that in January by offering a bachelor's degree in organizational management at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake.

Whitworth is the latest four-year school to offer a bachelor's degree option in Moses Lake, joining Heritage University and Central Washington University.

People who want to advance in their careers will benefit from Whitworth's expanded presence at Big Bend, which has a large service area encompassing Grant, Adams, and Lincoln counties.

(Big Bend was in the news earlier this week for recovering from budget cuts experienced during the recession. We hope its partnership with Whitworth results in gains for both schools.)

Earning a four-year degree is not a route everyone living in rural areas can pursue because of personal and financial considerations. Some people who are location bound can't afford to move far from home, or simply not work while attending college. They may be working, supporting a family, or all of the above.

Having Whitworth in Moses Lake will help students keep working as they chip away at their degree, paying off their education as they go. This is a far better alternative than racking up huge student loans.

Classes are a combination of online instruction that can be done from home and classroom instruction offered in the evenings and on a Saturday, according to Cheryl Vawyter, Whitworth's associate vice president of Continuing Studies.

She explains Moses Lake was selected as the university's first off-site program because of interest by Big Bend. In Moses Lake, Big Bend wants to partner with more four-year schools to provide opportunities for bachelor's degrees to alumni and others in the college's service area, she said in an email to the Herald's Editorial Board.

We think Whitworth is a good fit because the school already has a connection to the Columbia Basin.

In the past 10 years, a total of 69 Basin-area graduates have completed Whitworth degrees in Spokane. Here's a breakdown by town: Moses Lake, 24, Othello, 11, Quincy, 10, Ephrata, nine, Royal City, five, Ritzville and Warden, four, and Mattawa, two.

Whitworth is in the process of accepting applications for January classes in Moses Lake.

No one is enrolled yet, but the school is working hard at getting the word out, Vawyter, of Whitworth, said.

We wish Whitworth the best of luck as it expands its presence to Moses Lake.

Welcome to Moses Lake, Whitworth.

Editorial disclosure: Herald Managing Editor Lynne Lynch is a 1998 Whitworth graduate.

- Editorial Board