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Successful Launch of Online Undergraduate Degree

CPS Online

This spring, The College of Professional Studies (CPS) welcomed our first class of online part-time undergraduate students. The inaugural class of the online undergraduate degree is an important and exciting step forward for CPS, and an opportunity for adults around the country—with commitments such as careers and families—to complete their degree through Villanova University.

“The students enrolled in our program are from California to New York, working professionals employed by various organizations across the country such as Bloomberg, The Alzheimer’s Foundation, Comcast, Aetna Life Insurance, as well as military personnel,” says Mary Bustamante, Director, CPS. “Earning an undergraduate degree allows the students to move into higher level roles within their organization, and based on what we’ve heard from many of our current students this semester, that’s exactly their plan.”  Brandon Dorfman, Associate Director, CPS adds, “Many of our students have hit a ceiling in their careers because of that lack of a bachelor’s degree. For some it’s just because at the time they entered the workforce, they could move forward with only a high school diploma, and now that’s changed. The challenge is being able to pursue a degree while also balancing a full time job, and in many cases family responsibilities, so an online program allows them to solve both problems: moving up in their career, and earning a degree with flexibility.”

A desirable feature of our online degrees is that all of the degrees offered online are also successful, time-tested on-campus programs. The faculty who teach the on-campus courses are the very same faculty who are helping to develop and teach the coursework for the online degree, which ensures a level of consistency in the quality of what’s being taught in both the on campus and online degrees.  Dorfman says, “Online education has been around for a while, and Villanova has begun a bold undertaking in offering high quality education online. It’s easy for many places to say high quality, but Villanova has full-time and tenure track professors teaching our online courses. We really feel that offers our online students a different, yet equally valuable, education experience to our on campus students.”

Trends in higher education point to the fact that traditional age undergraduate education will always be around and will remain stable, whereas adult education will be rising in numbers for the foreseeable future.  CPS has a bright future ahead helping to transform the lives of its students―will you be next? Ignite a change in your life. Go Nova!

For more information on Villanova’s College of Professional Studies and part time undergraduate degree completion, whether on campus or online, visit cps.villanova.edu.