Working and going to college

Canada College launches a new degree program for working students

San Mateo County Times/Neil Gonzales, 7/2/11.  "A new program at Cañada College seeks to speed up the process for working students to transfer to a four-year university and earn a bachelor's degree while they continue with their jobs. "People who didn't think they could go to college will finally get a chance to ... actually see a four-year degree as a reality," program coordinator Jeri Eznekier said.  The Working Adults program will help participants earn an associate degree from the community college in two or three years by allowing them to take online courses and attend classes on Thursday nights and Saturdays, organizers said.

"Every credit earned in this program is transferable to public and private colleges and universities," Sarah Perkins, Cañada's vice president of instruction, said in a news release. "Students will follow a predetermined plan of classes, (which will eliminate) guesswork about degree and transfer requirements."

The program starts this fall and will take 35 students every semester. It will offer a two-year degree in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in social and behavioral science or the humanities. The degree opens up various fields of study, such as education, law and business for students to pursue when they transfer to a four-year school, organizers said. "It's designed to give them the most options," Eznekier said.

The program's students will receive priority enrollment at Cañada for Working Adult.  The San Mateo County Community College District's Measure G parcel tax, which voters passed a year ago, is paying for the program's startup costs of about $90,000, according to Cañada spokesman Robert Hood.classes and one-on-one academic advising to make sure they're taking the courses they need, organizers said.

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Students have been asking for such a program because they can't quit their jobs to attend school during the day, Perkins said. They also can't take classes two or three nights a week because of family commitments. The program gives students an accelerated degree program at a bargain, Eznekier added. It's akin to their doing their first two years of a four-year institution but paying community-college rates -- which are much more affordable than those of the University of California or California State University systems, she said. The program is the kind of measure that a study released the past week is calling for to help keep higher education within reach for students, especially those from underprivileged communities." 

Additional reference articles

"Can I work and Go to College", About.com;  "Working and going to college", Hub pages; "Going to College Part Tim Has Perks and Perils, US News, 8/15/07". 

Posted by Kathy Meeh