Henry Ford Community College Closes Center for Lifelong Learning

After 16 years and countless students, Henry Ford Community College's Center for Lifelong Learning is closing its doors on July 1.

Administrators at HFCC announced the decision to close the center earlier this week via the college's website.

All classes after July 1 are canceled with the exception of the following courses:

• Basic Rider Course – Motorcycle Safety
• Introduction to Mediumship
• All online courses

For information on these classes, contact the Workforce Development Department at 313-317-6600 or e-mail mtec@hfcc.edu.

Gary Erwin, HFCC director of communications, told Patch that some classes will be offered through the Dearborn Public Schools’ Adult & Community Education program.

A list of classes has not been determined, however classes will be posted online at www.dearbornCEonline.org.

HFCC is currently facing a $6.5 million budget shortfall for the 2013-2014 academic year. Erwin said he does not know how much money the college will save by closing the center.

"We're looking at everything very closely," he said. "The administration is still working through the financial aspects of the college's deficit as we speak."

A note from Ann Prenger, director of the Center for Lifelong Learning, posted online Tuesday thanked the community for supporting HFCC.

"They say that all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately it is true for the Center for Lifelong Learning program. We thank you for your patronage. It has been our privilege to offer top-notch classes in so many different subject areas and we know that you have loved them. Our instructors seem like family and it is very hard to say goodbye. That’s also true for the many students we have come to know as you have come back over and over again for our classes," Prenger wrote.

Calls to the center were not returned Wednesday morning.

The center has served hundreds of students since opening in 1997. Instructors provide short-term professional development courses for students seeking to upgrade their job skills through non-degree courses.