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News
April 8, 2009
University of Illinois Global Campus Partners with Prairie State College to Offer Bachelor's Degree Completion Programs
Current Bachelor’s Degrees in Nursing and Business Administration; New Degrees in Psychology and Environmental Sustainability
At a ceremony held this morning, the University of Illinois and Prairie State College signed a new partnership that will provide Prairie State College students with the opportunity to finish their Baccalaureate degrees online, through the University of Illinois Global Campus.
"This agreement is an excellent example of a partnership that expands access to quality baccalaureate programs for Prairie State College students whose personal circumstances may not allow them to transfer to on-campus university programs" said Prairie State College President Eric C. Radtke.
As stated in the partnering agreement, The University of Illinois Global Campus will work with Prairie State College to establish transfer guides for each Global Campus baccalaureate completion program and a microsite to track Global Campus inquiries. Students from Prairie State College will utilize the services offered by the college’s Student Success Center. The Global Campus will also provide staff for college, corporate, and organization open houses and meetings, and scholarship consideration for Prairie State College graduates successfully enrolled in Global Campus degree programs.
Prairie State College, in turn, will work with the Global Campus to provide library, research support and connectivity for enrolled students, appropriate tutoring and technology assistance for students, test proctoring services, and scholarship consideration for Prairie State College graduates and students enrolled in the pre-requisite phase of Global Campus programs.
The Student Success Center at Prairie State College offers services to increase both enrollments and degree completions in the programs offered by the University of Illinois Global Campus. Working together, the Global Campus and Prairie State College will establish a student-friendly transfer process, assess educational needs and programming options for local employers, agencies and organizations, and will market jointly Prairie State College and Global Campus programs and services.
"We are excited about this articulation agreement because it provides our students with the opportunity to complete an online degree from the state’s flagship university," said Linda F. Uzureau, Prairie State College Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty.
Currently, Prairie State College students are able to apply for admission to two Global Campus baccalaureate degree completion programs: a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).
The BBA is aimed at working professionals who are looking to complete a bachelor's degree to advance their careers in management, finance, accounting, marketing, and other business-related fields. It is also a first step on the path toward an MBA or other graduate degrees in business. Offered in partnership with the College of Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the BBA program is one of a select few (less than 6% of business programs worldwide) accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Prairie State College students must have completed at least 60 hours of college-level credit to gain admission into the program.
The BSN program is designed for nurses wishing to complete their bachelor's degrees and build a foundation for leadership in one of the fastest growing professions in the U.S. The BSN program has no residency requirement and the required coursework can be completed by taking as few as 30 credit hours through the Global Campus and in as few as 16 months. The online BSN program is offered in partnership with the highly ranked College of Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This means students will be taught by faculty who are engaged in cutting-edge research from an institution ranked third nationally in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health.
To gain admission to the BSN, students are required to have an RN license and have completed specific prerequisites in college-level coursework. Generally, these include an Associate’s Degree in Nursing (ADN) and additional courses that normally are not part of an ADN curriculum, but are required to be eligible to receive a degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Most of these courses, however, can be taken at Prairie State College.
Beginning in September, the Global Campus will be offering two new baccalaureate degree completion programs, pending full academic approval: a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sustainability. Prairie State College students will be able to apply for admission to the programs upon completing any necessary prerequisites as outlined in their transfer guides.
University of Illinois President B. Joseph White described Global Campus’ online education as an important means of fulfilling the University’s 21st century land-grant mission.
"Working with community colleges like Prairie State, we can deliver high-quality U. of I. baccalaureate completion degrees, including several around $20,000," White said. "I believe the time has come when we can not only take advantage of the cost savings and access online education makes possible but also profitably incorporate online classes, technologies and new interactive applications on our residential campuses."
About the University of Illinois Global Campus
The mission of The University of Illinois Global Campus is to serve society and transform lives by educating qualified students with excellence, via the Internet, through high-quality bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, certificates, and professional development courses. For more information, please visit http://global.uillinois.edu.
The Global Campus offers online bachelor's completion degrees, master's degrees and graduate certificate programs in collaboration with partnering academic units on the University of Illinois brick-and-mortar campuses at Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield. Each program's curriculum is developed by world-class University of Illinois faculty who are leaders in their fields of study. In addition, Global Campus programs are overseen by an academic council and taught by high-quality instructors who meet rigorous requirements in both their academic fields and in online pedagogy. Through the Global Campus, the University of Illinois aims to expand availability of quality education programs over the Internet to students who could not previously participate in campus communities.
About Prairie State College
Prairie State College, founded in 1958, is a richly diverse community college dedicated to student-centered instruction that fosters success in adult, transfer, and workforce education.
Current enrollment at Prairie State College stands at 5,507 students, with over 65% of the student body self-identifying as members of traditionally underrepresented, or minority, populations. The average age of a Prairie State student is 29.
Prairie State College was the first Illinois community college to guarantee that all credits earned would transfer to other Illinois colleges and universities. This assurance has grown through the Illinois Articulation Initiative.
