Some students at John Tyler Community College are drawn by the opportunity to start their college careers over – in an environment that lends a hand to everyone.

PVCC has pushed to offer more classes online - with zero in 2000 there are more than 70 this year - but Allen’s is the only one that is engaging students in real-time video.

Thousands of residents across the commonwealth turn to community colleges for training and education. Approximately 240,342 students took at least one credited course during the 2006-07 academic year.