Career experts have long told us that ongoing retraining is an essential prerequisite for career advancement. In the last few years, many wage earners seem to have taken the message to heart. The proof is in the surging enrollment by working adults in accelerated evening and weekend degree programs at Chicago-area colleges and universities.
John Petrik, dean of career services at the DuPage Campus of DeVry Institute of Technology, is among many educators who have observed the growing trend.
“We have 1,100 evening students now at the DuPage campus,” he said. “Our evening population has grown much faster than has the daytime population of students. It’s almost doubled in the last eight years.”
And it isn’t just Chicago-area wage earners who are returning to the halls of academia, observed Joan Lund, associate dean of University College at Chicago’s Roosevelt University. “About 50 percent of all college students nationwide are now working adults,” she noted.
Of course, full-time employees have far different needs than young college students. They want classes convenient to work or home, course schedules that fit into their non-working hours, and–most important for many–the option of fast-track degree programs.
Colleges and universities in Chicago and suburbs have responded by establishing satellite downtown and suburban campuses, evening and weekend class schedules, and accelerated courses and programs.
Among the pioneers in giving working adults easier and quicker access to degrees is Roosevelt University, which began offering accelerated degree programs in 1966. In 1996, the university made choosing courses and completing degree programs a bit more convenient for working adults, with the opening of its Schaumburg campus.
Roosevelt’s two most popular degree programs among evening and weekend students are its bachelor of general studies and bachelor of arts and professional studies degrees. Each offers classes scheduled around traditional working hours, and each is structured to allow adults the chance to compress the time frame required to earn a diploma.
Students have the option of choosing concentrations within each of the bachelor’s degree programs. The most popular is professional administration, which enables working adults to take concentrated studies in accounting, marketing, finance, management and other business areas.
Other concentrations include organizational communication, which helps students advance in human resources and public relations fields, and computer science.
In addition, the university offers other options to students seeking to enhance their skills. “We can bring courses into businesses and corporations through our Partners in Corporate Education program,” noted Lund. “And our External Studies program allows students to take classes through a correspondence format. They work with a faculty member through the mail.”
Wage earners can also study toward degrees at DeVry’s Chicago and DuPage campuses. At the former, DeVry offers an accelerated bachelor of science degree in technical management to students holding associate degrees. The fast-track weekend program permits students to attain the bachelor’s degree in 20 months.
“And at the DuPage campus (in Addison), we’re now offering compressed courses in our general education curriculum, involving Saturday classes,” noted dean of career services Petrik.
Business management and English courses are examples of some of the compressed courses offered by DeVry. “They generally aren’t taken as stand-alone classes, but in conjunction with day or evening classes to complete degree programs more quickly.” Petrik said.
Technology has helped make accelerated classes more feasible, he added, noting that students in some DeVry classes submit papers and communicate with faculty via the Internet.
Meanwhile, at Keller Graduate School of Management, a division of Oakbrook Terrace-based DeVry Inc., 98 percent of the students in four master’s level degree programs are working adults, said dean Tim Ricordati.
Keller’s seven Chicago-area campuses offer students a choice of earning an master’s degree in business administration, in project management geared toward technical fields or in human resource management.
“Eighty percent of our students take one class a week–either on a week night, a Saturday morning or a Saturday afternoon,” said Ricordati. “Twenty percent want to accelerate, and take two 3 1/2-hour classes a week. They can complete the master’s programs in 18 months.”
Among many other Chicago-area institutions offering M.B.A. degrees to working adults is the University of Chicago. Classes are held at the university’s downtown Gleacher Center, and give working adults the choice of evening or weekend M.B.A. programs, said Patty Keegan, associate director for the Executive M.B.A. program.
Students are required to take 20 courses. “Most take one or two courses per quarter,” reported Keegan. “It takes most students 3 to 3 1/2 years to complete the degree, but it can be done quicker.”
The university also offers an Executive M.B.A. program at Gleacher Center that can be completed in 16 months, added Keegan.
The Executive M.B.A. requires students to attend classes all day on Fridays and Saturdays every other week.
Mundelein College, one of the undergraduate colleges of Loyola University Chicago, is another resource for working adults looking to enhance their career prospects.
The college offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, science, business administration and education, with courses available in the evenings and on weekends. Students have a choice of attending the Lake Shore campus in Rogers Park, the Water Tower campus downtown, the Mallinkrodt campus in Wilmette or the Loyola University Medical Center campus in Maywood, said Stephen Freedman, dean of Mundelein College.
Quicker degree completion is possible through accelerated summer study programs that compress two full semesters into two six-week sessions, and through Loyola-administered placement exams that can earn incoming students up to 15 hours of college credit.
Among popular programs at Mundelein are the bachelor’s of business administration and pre-professional health science degree programs.
Degree programs aren’t the only option for those seeking to enhance their marketable skills. Many such skills can be obtained through certificate programs offered at Chicago-area colleges and universities.
For instance, Columbia College’s Columbia 2 evening and weekend programs for working adults offers a certificate in business and professional communication.
Finally, educational opportunities exist for those who want to start their own businesses rather than advance in their current positions. This spring, Columbia 2 will unveil a certificate program called Career Transition and Entrepreneurship, which will include such courses as Applied Finance, Small Business Economics and Entrepreneurial Management.
