Rhode Island's Continuing Education Programs Gear Up For Fall
Tracey Minkin, GoLocalProv Features Editor, with Tessa Browne
Rhode Island's Continuing Education Programs Gear Up For Fall
According to experts, that audience is expanding as Rhode Islanders look for new skills, certificates and degrees to fuel new employment opportunities. Further, younger adults are seeking Continuing Education as well. "While we still serve the adult student attending part-time, usually while employed, the overall age of our students has declined from 39 to 29, as more younger people are working the Providence area," said Kathryn Quina, Ph.D., Associate Dean, Feinstein College of Continuing Education and Professor of Psychology & Women's Studies at the University of Rhode Island.
According to Quina, URI's advisors have reported increased numbers of adult students "seeking to retool or retrain" as a result of the ongoing economic recession. "Very recently several students have come for further education after displacement by the sequester," Quina said.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTNumerous colleges in Rhode Island are also seeing their online courses increasing in popularity. Johnson & Wales plans to add 7 new courses online for 2014, and will be adding 4-6 more online courses per year through 2017. The university also has plans to offer an online MBA program.
"A lot of students like the online option," according to Jamie Scurry, Interim Dean at Roger Williams University's School of Continuing Education, citing online learning's flexibility and how it affords students of all ages "to engage on different levels." Scurry added that all of RWU's CE offerings are available online.
To get a taste of what's exciting this fall at several prominent Rhode Island colleges and universities with Continuing Education programs, see the slides, below: