The gymnasium of Edison was packed Tuesday, Oct. 9, with hundreds of high school, college and prospective students who gathered to meet with the approximately 50 colleges and universities from throughout the region at the annual College Fair. 

The annual event, which brings schools from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana, provides students with the opportunity to talk with advisors about tuition, job placement rates for majors, accreditation and the transfer process. 

“The college fair is a lot bigger than I expected,” said Dianna Burt, a junior from Piqua High School. “I feel like I’ve got some really good information by coming. I’ve been asking schools about being a physician’s assistant and what they offered and required.” 

The fair is a free annual event open to the public, and area high schools are encouraged to bring students who are looking into furthering their education somewhere down the line. 

This is the first year that all public colleges and universities in Ohio are now on the semester system, part of a new initiative aimed at making it even easier for students to transfer class credits from one school to another. As a fully accredited two-year institution, Edison is able to help students looking for a jump start on a four-year degree or in need of vital skills and technical training to land a job. 

“I think this has been really interesting today and I liked learning about all the colleges,” said Ashley Gilmore, a senior at the Upper Valley Career Center. “I looked at Ohio State, Wright State and the School of Advertising Art. I’m interested in learning about photography and owning my own business.” 

As the region’s premier college fair, this is the best chance for many students to get some face time with admissions counselors and find out what their school has to offer. Some students still weren’t sure about what career path they wanted to take, but understood that a college education is a valuable commodity these days. 

“I’m undecided about what I want to do eventually, but I know I need to go to college,” said Matthew Wolf, a senior from Bradford who is taking classes at the UVCC. “I want to be able to get a decent job and have some money.” 

Some high school students attending the college fair were already familiar with some of the ins and outs of taking college classes. Several students attending the college fair are currently taking classes at Edison through the Post-Secondary Enrollment Option Program (PSEOP), which allows high school students who qualify to take classes on campus and earn college credit, without having to pay tuition costs. 

For Haley Slonkosky, a senior at Fairlawn, it’s helped her to get an early start on her college career. 

“I’ve taken PSEOP classes for my junior and senior years and have credits out of the way,” Slonkosky said. “It’s something I’d most definitely recommend to students because it gets you ahead and it’s paid for.” 

Some of the schools that attended this year’s college fair were Northern Kentucky University, Bowling Green State University, Wilmington College, Cleveland State University and Eastern Michigan University. 

Edison Community College is a fully accredited two-year institution that offers more than 30 associate’s degrees and one-year certificate programs designed to transfer to four-year colleges and universities or help launch a professional career. For more information on Edison’s extensive academic catalog, go online to www.edisonohio.edu.