Sowela Technical Community College

SOWELA Technical Community College is a community college in Lake Charles, Louisiana, with an additional instruction site in Jennings, Louisiana.

The school's mascot is the Flying Tigers, named for the World War II General Clair Chennault's 1st American Volunteer Group and their P-40 aircraft adorned with a shark-faced motif. SOWELA's Lake Charles campus is situated on land formerly utilized as Chennault Air Force Base.

Prof. Neil Aspinwall is the Chancellor of the college.

The College currently offers associate degree, technical diploma, or certificate awards in 23 different programs including as petrochemical, automotive, aviation, culinary arts, graphic arts, nursing and allied health, and office systems. In the Summer of 2014, SOWELA introduced the 16-week Fast Track Process Technology (PTEC) program, which provides a compressed pathway to an Associate of Applied Science in Process Technology to qualified students who already hold an Associate or higher-level degree.

Following damage by Hurricane Rita in 2005, the Lake Charles campus was repaired and added four new buildings – the Phillips 66 Process Technology building, the Arts and Humanities building, the Nursing and Allied Health building, and the Regional Training Center. An $8 million Student Services building is expected to be completed on the Lake Charles campus by mid-2017. Replacing the Morgan Smith Instructional Site in Jennings, a $10 million facility will be built in 2017 adjacent to the Jennings High School in Jefferson Davis Parish.

SOWELA's fundraising efforts are supported by the SOWELA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization.

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