Last modified: Thursday, April 29, 2004
Harper College students can get their Indiana University baccalaureate from afar
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A cooperative program with a Chicago-area community college will enable students at that school to stay at their home campus for an additional year of study and then complete 30 credit hours through distance education to earn an Indiana University bachelor's degree.
Under the 90/30 Program, students at William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Ill., will be able to earn up to 90 transferable credit hours at their home campus. Once admitted to Indiana University, the students will complete 30 hours of upper-division credit by taking distance education courses through IU's School of Continuing Studies Independent Study Program. By taking these courses, students can fulfill the requirements for the IU bachelor of general studies degree.
Generally, students from two-year colleges who want to earn a bachelor's degree must go to a four-year school after completing the 60 credit hours required for an associate degree. With the 90/30 Program, students can take up to 30 additional transferable hours at their two-year institution (the equivalent of a third year) before completing their bachelor of general studies degree through distance education at Indiana University. Students would continue to pay the community college's tuition rate for all courses taken at that institution. Once admitted to Indiana University, students would pay the tuition rate for the IU Independent Study Program, which is the same for residents and non-residents.
"We are delighted to join Harper College in this program, which allows students to earn a valued Indiana University degree without having to relocate to an Indiana University campus," said Judy Wertheim, interim dean of the School of Continuing Studies.
Representatives at Harper College also expressed their delight with the 90/30 Program. "Harper College has always been on the cutting edge of education," said Robert Breuder, Harper president, "and our new agreement with Indiana University upholds that tradition."
Harper College is the first community college to have such an arrangement with IU. The School of Continuing Studies is in discussions with other out-of-state community colleges, however, as it strives to make an IU education more accessible.
The SCS General Studies Degree Program has served tens of thousands of students worldwide since 1975. More than 21,000 students have graduated from the program, which currently has 5,000 students in all 50 states and abroad. For more information, contact Lisa Denlinger, associate director of the IU School of Continuing Studies, at 812-855-1656 and ldenling@indiana.edu.
