American Commercial, founded in 1958 by W.D. Sheets of Carthage, is the oldest continuously owned business college in Texas and the fifth-oldest in the United States. Sheets continues to serve as president while his son, Brent Sheets of Lubbock, is chief operating officer. Ninety-eight percent of the students are women, with the median age about 28, according to Otto. They've been to the school of hard knocks. Otto said a typical program takes about seven months for graduation, enrolled full time in day classes.
New classes begin monthly.
About two-thirds of the students graduate. The No. 1 source of new students is the Reporter-News classified advertising section, Otto said. A native of Michigan, he graduated from high school in Terrell, Texas and received a bachelor's degree from Stephen F. Austin State University. We run it right, we have a good product and we offer a good curriculum, he said. And the fact that students keep graduating is proof of that success, Otto said.