The Nov. 17 editorial, New SFCC campus? Not now, please," on Santa Fe Community College's plans for a Higher Learning Center was off the mark on several levels.

SFCC has no plans to build "an eighth" college on the CSF campus or anywhere else. Instead, SFCC plans to ask the voters whether they would approve of building a facility where all existing state universities and colleges could have space to run programs students in Santa Fe want and need.

While it's true students could drive to universities and colleges in other parts of the state, the SFCC Higher Education Center concept allows programs from these and other schools to come to Santa Fe, saving students time and money. This could provide the incentive our students need to complete a higher degree.

There is no new state funding involved in this concept. Schools choosing to offer programs at the facility will be reimbursed, as they are now, on a per-student-credit-hour basis. As an example, if New Mexico Tech offers an engineering program in Santa Fe, the students served in that program generate both tuition revenue and funding through the state formula. SFCC benefits from serving that student with core two-year classes, and, if voters approve, covers its operating, or landlord-type, expenses with a modest (about $5 per year on average) mil levy. This small levy will allow SFCC to keep the lights on, pay for an administrator of the center and coordinate the programs.

Many students have told us the drive to our Richards Avenue campus is difficult for them to bear in terms of time and money. It may not be widely known that Laureate Education did not take the entire College of Santa Fe campus for its operations. There is a parcel of land available that could be an ideal place to locate the Higher Learning Center. Whether the College of Santa Fe participates academically in the Higher Learning Center is not an issue because so many state schools have expressed interest.

The type of co-operative SFCC is proposing is in existence in most states, which see the value in partnerships using combined resources to efficiently and effectively serve students eager for higher education to help them build a better life. In all cases, this concept creates a win-win for the university partners, the students and the community.

Carole Brito is vice chairwoman of the Santa Fe Community College Governing Board and state chairwoman of the Association of Community College Trustees. She lives in Santa Fe.