MONROVIA >> Mt. Sierra College’s new Monrovia campus offers a high-tech learning environment that officials hope will help boost enrollment and advance the curriculum.
The small career college transitioned to new offices over the Christmas holiday, but it wasn’t until earlier this month that it held a grand opening celebration.
Tawny Hernandez, director of career services, said a few things prompted the move.
“We were looking for a space that better fit our college and our lease was ending at the other location so we thought it was a good time,” she said
Mt. Sierra’s new campus is located at 800 Royal Oaks Drive, across the street from Ducommun, an aerospace engineering company.
Hernandez said a change in ownership also played a role in the move. In October 2014, educational investment firm Wellsland LLC acquired the for-profit institution.
Wellsland is owned by Chinese businessman George Jie Zhao, who has a background in international business. For several years, he worked in China for an automobile holdings company that includes Volvo and London Taxicab companies among its assets. But he also has an interest in education.
In 2000, he helped found Beijing Geely University, which began as an automotive college. Today it is China’s largest private university with over 30,000 students across 20 colleges.
Mt. Sierra, too, has grown significantly since its humble beginnings in Pasadena in 1990, when it had two classrooms and four students.
In its early days, it was known as Computer Technology Institute and briefly, as Pasadena Career Institute.
It changed its name to Mt. Sierra Career College in 1991, and three years later, when it began laying the foundation for bachelor’s degree programs, it went through a fourth and final name change to Mt. Sierra College
Greg Kahwajian, a Mt. Sierra board member, said the most critical change under the new ownership is Zhao’s commitment to growing the college and moving toward regional accreditation, a lengthy process that could take anywhere from two to five years. Zhao is invested in upgrading the facility and curriculum to facilitate that, he said.
Hernandez said staff is in the process of implementing new courses and software for the media arts programs and is looking to transform the technology and business programs as well.
Mt. Sierra offers bachelor’s degree programs in business, media arts and information technology with current enrollment of about 400 students.
“We’re small, but mighty,” Hernandez said.
Although there is only one campus in Monrovia, the Wellsland website lays out plans for opening a sister college in Shanghai, which Hernandez called more of a long-term goal.
Kahwajian said the board has expressed a “deep interest” in increasing the number of international students and eventually opening a sister program overseas.
He said some of the academic team went and visited Shanghai last year, but as of now, it is only a point of discussion.
For more information about programs and course offerings visit the website at www.mtsierra.edu.
