On-campus, Online or Independent Study?
Universities adapt nontraditional programs specifically for part-time bachelor’s degree students.
by Marty Levine
Educational institutions are bending over backwards to accommodate the schedules of today’s students. That includes everyone from those currently in the military to veterans who can’t stop working to go to school but still need a degree for career advancement. Traditional universities are making it much easier to go to school, and the online institutions are continuing to adapt their programs to 2006 realities.
The 175-year-old University of Missouri, which has thousands of students on its traditional campus, began a Bachelor of General Studies degree program a year ago that is entirely independent-study.
“It’s probably the most flexible form of education you’d ever want to find,” says Dolores Shearon, marketing director for the Missouri Extension Program. As a degree-completion program for those already with two years of college, she adds, “it’s an excellent program for someone who started college and had to leave for whatever reason.”
The general studies degree has no class attendance or residency requirements. Students can enroll any time, as long as they can complete their course in nine months. Several of the 100 enrolled students in the degree program currently serve on active duty. Instead of picking one major, Missouri BGS students pick three component areas to combine for a concentration.
Missouri also offers 30 degrees online. Shearon says the online programs attract many students from the military with experience in health care fields – nursing, respiratory therapy and radiography – who are already registered nurses or certified but need a bachelor’s degree to get ahead. Although these degree programs operate on the regular university semester schedule, they’re ideal for working adults.
American Sentinel University, headquartered in Denver, Colo., serves its 4,500 students entirely online with a self-paced schedule that couldn’t get any more flexible.
Students, says Natalie Nixon, director of military programs, “can enroll today, 10 days from now or 30 days from now. They can start right away when they get the books or 10 days later. People know their schedules better than we do.”
Nixon says the university’s popularity among active-duty military and veterans is “increasing dramatically” to total more than 30 percent of their students. The most popular bachelor’s degrees are the B.S. degrees in information systems and business. The university also offers a B.S. in computer science that is “very attractive to the very technical group” of veterans, since it focuses solely on programming and software development.
American Sentinel courses combine standard college textbooks with a Web-based course management system that allows students to go online for course materials at any time and come back when they’re ready to complete assignments. “It’s a real nice balance between technology and flexibility,” she adds.
The university eases the educational experience for those with military experience by offering transfer credits in a variety of ways as well as giving military personnel and spouses a special price for tuition — $250 a credit hour — that includes all fees, such as the cost of books and shipping.
“When we’ve got someone pretty organized, pretty gung ho” who starts the program, she observes, you can be pretty sure it’s someone with military experience.
Susan Dewan sees the same thing at Excelsior College in Albany, N.Y. She is assistant dean in the school of liberal arts and director of military education for Excelsior, which calls itself the country’s first virtual college. All of its courses are online and CD-ROM based.
“Military students are very motivated, self-driven” and come to Excelsior with many credits already, she notes. Indeed, they have the highest graduation rates among Excelsior students. About 5,000 active-duty service members are currently enrolled, as are several thousand veterans. The college has 43,000 graduates with military experience thanks to its official partnerships with the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and National Guard.
Among its military contingent, Excelsior has several popular part-time offerings. Its B.S. in criminal justice attracts students with military police, master-at-arms or Coast Guard experience. That degree also includes homeland security as an area of emphasis. The B.S. in business appeals to senior enlisted level students, Dewan reports. “Throughout the course of their military career they have attended quite a few leadership schools. Those translate into credits,” she explains.
The B.S. in liberal arts also attracts prior-military because students can include technical skills areas combined with “a lot of subject other areas,” she says. “They’re really able to maximize their career experience.”
To help its veteran students, the college also offers the course “Strategies for Veteran Success,” which gives information about career choices, financial aid and the G.I. Bill. Although the University of Phoenix has campuses all over the country, online bachelor’s degrees are “by far the preference for most military people, because it fits their life a lot better,” says Mike Bibbee, vice president and director of the military division. “They’re a lot more flexible for working adults.”
Phoenix has 15,000 military students currently — half are active duty or reservists, while the other half are veterans or military spouses. They are particularly pleased to have alumni in the war against terror, such as Capt. Eric Johnson, a University of Phoenix business management graduate who works a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan as part of the Medical Civic Assistance Program, often referred to as “MedCAP” in the military. The Austin, Texas, resident used the flexibility of Phoenix to complete his degree between military assignments in Somalia, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
Phoenix’s online programs can be accessed at any time of the night or day, although they must be completed by the course’s particular deadline. Phoenix also offers faculty who are practitioners in their field — “they are required to be working in their field,” Bibbee notes.
The university’s most popular part-time programs among military students are four bachelor’s of science degrees: in Criminal Justice, Business, Information Technology, and Business and Management.
“Because of their busy schedules, it is a lot more difficult for them to go to school,” he says of military students. “But they’re a little more persistent in finishing that degree than other students.”
Bibbee knows what he’s talking about. He’s a 29-year Air Force veteran, leaving the service in 2000 as a chief master sergeant (E-9). Each military student at Phoenix is assigned one of 300 prior-military enrollment counselors who work directly with them.
“What’s really interesting about online education is that you can’t be a wallflower,” concludes Missouri’s Shearon. “You’re expected to post questions and comments for class discussion” online.
The most important thing about choosing a program, she adds, is to ensure each institution of higher learning has been accredited by their regional accrediting body. As Shearon notes: “Your degree is only as good as the institution you earn it from.”