Lee Jean Jordan had two years of pre-nursing training at the Kettering (Ohio) College of Medical Arts and worked as a fire department medic. She’d always wanted to get a college degree. “I was trying to get into emergency nursing,” she said. “But somewhere along the line I got derailed.”

What derailed her were life’s experiences. Jordan was a single mother of two. But, after her son died and her daughter became ill, Jordan stopped her own schooling. She went to work at Kettering Medical Center near Dayton, where she’s being encouraged to continue her schooling to enhance her skills. “I had on-the-job training,” she said, “but no formal training”— at least not until the center’s medical education director, Dr. Robert Smith, stepped in.

“The physician in charge of medical education sat down with me and went over the courses at Sinclair Community College and said, ‘Oh, I’d love for you to take this, this and this,’ ” Jordan recalled. “It was exciting because they were courses I could use.”

Working with Dr. Smith and administrators at Sinclair, Jordan designed her own degree, combining courses in communications, management and allied health in a program tailored specifically for her position at the medical center. Jordan is well on her way to earning a certificate in medical management and plans to complete a two-year degree. Jordan, who works full time, says: “I take one class at a time, but I don’t mind that.”

Indeed, Jordan is now the center’s Continuing Medical Education Coordinator, a job in which she plans more than 240 conferences a year for more than 10,000 attendees. In addition, she’s fulfilled her initial desire to support emergency medical teams. She worked as a volunteer assisting in New York City after the 9/11 attack and in 2004 was trained by an international team in critical incident stress management.

For Jordan, and for thousands like her in the health and safety professions, a community college such as Sinclair is the perfect place. In fact, according to one estimate, community colleges educate 65 percent of the country’s allied health workers and 80 percent of firefighters. In 1999-2000, the nation’s nearly 1,200 community colleges enrolled about 10.4 million students, 44 percent of all American undergraduates. Nationwide, the average age of these students was 29, and nearly two-thirds of them attended on a part-time basis.

Carolyn Mann, chairperson of Sinclair’s Experience-based Education Department, was a Sinclair graduate 30 years ago. She later completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in marketing from Wright State University and then reconnected with a former instructor at Sinclair who was looking into “cooperative” education. Their work centered on assessing what students had learned through formal education and experience before entering college. Today, Mann is widely credited with creating effective adult programs — programs that help returning students translate their prior learning into college credit.

Jerry L. Mathers was one student Mann assisted. He’d left high school early, received a General Educational Development (GED) credential and, as with approximately 250,000 people each year, enlisted in the military. Mathers was partially disabled while in the Army, and, after he left the service, the Veterans Administration offered to help him go back to school. At Sinclair, he was able to earn credits for his prior experiences and training. He began classes in 2002 and hopes to earn an associate’s degree in lodging management.

In addition to credit for prior learning, students at Sinclair enjoy flexibility in scheduling their courses. “Students have jobs,” noted Mann. “They are trying to make a living, take care of children and aging parents. They are in a juggling mode all the time. Here they can take courses on Saturday or over the Internet so they don’t have to go to a particular setting, which makes schooling doable for many learners.”

For many Sinclair students, this flexible approach is a must. Take Dennis Quebe, for example. “I’ve always believed in education and always wanted to get my degree,” he said. But as the busy owner of two electrical contracting companies, daytime classes on campus were out of the question.

Quebe had tried correspondence courses 20 years ago. “That just doesn’t work,” he said. “But with today’s technology, colleges can offer the service via video or Web-based classes.”

Quebe hasn’t taken all of his classes long-distance. He took English and communication on campus at night and completed a course on Saturdays. In June 2004, he received his associate’s degree in technical studies and electrical technology. And now he’s pursuing a bachelor’s degree from Franklin University in Columbus, one of 30 institutions that accept Sinclair credits from transferring students.

Quebe’s quest for learning, though personally gratifying, is more than merely personal. He also did it to set an example for his daughter Holly when she reached college age. “My daughter looked at me and said: ‘You’ve been very successful without a degree, and you want me to go to college?’ To reinforce what I was preaching to her, I decided to go back to school.”

The lesson took. Holly is in her second year at Sinclair and plans to transfer to Wright State University in Dayton. “But I think she is comfortable with Sinclair,” Quebe said, “and she keeps taking courses.”