The Washington County Chamber of Commerce hosted its monthly Breakfast Briefing at the Rossin Campus Center at Washington and Jefferson College. Dr. John Knapp, President of W & J offered his view of challenges facing all colleges for the future. Knapp says that college admissions are declining because the population of college aged students peaked in the early 2010’s and continues to decline. Knapp says that W & J has been able to adapt from its founding in 1781 as a western frontier college that turned out professionals to the college it is today, still turning out highly successful professionals through its ability to adapt. Knapp pointed to programs such as the “simplified pricing” program that it uses to attract students by advertising what the cost of tuition truly is at W & J, and how affordable a college education can be. W &J’s biggest adaptation is asking that students participate in two complimentary programs of study to allow them to be a more well-rounded student and prepare them to be not just career ready but “professionally ready” to enter the workforce. They are doing that by the introduction of 27 new courses of study over the last two years. Part of that is the partnership with Washington Health System and offering a four year bachelor of science degree in nursing to supplement the already successful two year nursing school at Washington Hospital.