The University of Massachusetts is planning to start a new online college for adult learners, president Marty Meehan announced in his annual State of the University address last week.
The new college will draw from various campus and online programs designed by faculty, which will ultimately make receiving a college education from the UMass institution much easier for adult learners.
“Over the last 18 months of research and study on this subject, it has become clear that our single greatest opportunity to preserve a thriving, healthy and prosperous UMass while meeting our workforce development mission is to take bold and intentional steps to make a UMass education more accessible to students we are not currently serving at scale,” Meehan said.
The new college will also generate revenue that will help support the university’s goal of educating both traditional undergraduate and graduate students.
“UWW will have a multi-modal approach, serving students when and where they want to go to school,” John Wells, senior vice provost for online education said. “Traditional undergraduate students, as well as life-long learners, will be involved, and each group may well participate in face-to-face, online and hybrid courses.”
Last year in December, the university started the University Without Walls (UWW) program to supplement its efforts to make degree completion more accessible for everyone, including working professionals.
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