RELATED: 3 questions with Jessica Barry, owner, School of Advertising Art
The campus expansion is a $6 million investment, which will be partially financed through PNC Bank, the school said in its announcement. Initial renovations to SAA’s current 14,000-square-foot building were completed last August.
“By 2025, we project enrollment will increase by 106 percent,” said Jessica Barry, the school’s owner and president.
“Our faculty and staff needs will increase by 87 percent,” she added. “This far exceeds the capacity of our current facility.”
Construction on the site is estimated to be completed in 2018.
“SAA has been a fixture and asset in the Kettering community for 34 years,” Kettering Mayor Don Patterson said. “Kettering is home to the talented students and faculty from SAA. Their graduates stay here and enliven our local businesses and non-profits with their creativity and professionalism.”
Currently, SAA offers a two-year associate degree of applied business in advertising art. As part of the expansion, the college plans to add a bachelor’s degree completion program.
Seventy percent of SAA’s current students move to Kettering, the school said.
The school was founded in 1983 and has been located in its current building for 18 years. Barry purchased the school in 2013 and has led a three-year enrollment increase of 54 percent, the school said.
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