Online bachelor’s degree completion now offered

Students can finish University of Colorado Colorado Springs degrees in four high-demand fields by completing the final two years of coursework online beginning this fall.

Students can now complete degrees in business, criminal justice, nursing and allied health without traveling to campus, said Venkat Reddy, executive director of online program development. Throughout the spring and summer, UCCS faculty prepared junior and senior level courses for availability online. More than 300 students are expected to enroll for the fall 2011 semester.

“These courses, which were developed with the same standards for high quality as our on-campus offerings, will help improve access to UCCS,” Reddy said. “I believe students from Colorado community colleges, those who are serving in the armed forces, or others who must stay closer to home, will benefit.”

A limited number of spaces in nursing and criminal justice programs are available. For more information, visit www.uccs.edu/online.

For community college students, the addition of online junior and senior level online undergraduate courses will allow them to complete degrees while remaining in their home communities. For military personnel who began their education at UCCS or one of the state’s community colleges, online courses enable them to continue their education even if deployed overseas or transferred to another duty station.

“Ideally, as we look in the future and more students will mix online, on-campus and CISCO-technology assisted courses,” Reddy said. “It is important for students to understand that our online courses are developed specifically and with the highest possible standards. A degree that is completed online will have the same degree of rigor and of quality as one completed while attending classes in person.”

The degrees are offered by three colleges: the College of Business, the School of Public Administration, and the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Each college is accredited by respective national and international accrediting agencies to ensure that standards for faculty and graduation criteria are upheld. These are the first online undergraduate degrees offered by UCCS. Since 1996, UCCS has offered an online master’s degree in business administration with hundreds of graduates from around the globe as alumni. The Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the School of Public Affairs also offer master’s degree and graduate certificates online and the Division of Extended Studies offers online courses.

“We are starting with professional degrees that are in high demand,” Provost Peg Bacon said. “We anticipate there will be more.”