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What's Hot This Fall?
Adult Students Inspire Curricular Innovation
Going back to college as an adult is often about the bottom line: money and job security. A recent University of Wisconsin study indicated that the most popular majors among nontraditional students were business, education, social work, nursing, and accounting, all of which often lead to career advancement and/or a salary increase. A survey of several Boston-area continuing education programs reinforced the Wisconsin study's findings, and uncovered a few regional specialties.
"The most popular undergraduate degree program in continuing education at Merrimack is business," says Jane T. Larkin, dean of the School of Graduate, Continuing, and Professional Education at Merrimack College in North Andover. "Our business program prepares students for positions in the corporate sector, and as many of them are already employed, the degree often helps them move to the next level of their career." The second most popular major at Merrimack is liberal arts. "This program is ideal for students who come to us with a good deal of previous college credit. They can transfer 13 open electives into the liberal arts program, and then choose two, six-course areas of concentration."
Business also ranks among the top choices at Curry College in Milton. "The most popular programs among our continuing education population are management, the RN-BS in nursing, and criminal justice," says Catherine Sawyer, Curry's assistant director of communication.
At many Boston-area schools, some new and interesting trends have emerged in business departments, with general business training giving way to organizational leadership, training and development, and niche specialties.
"The corporate emphasis on a team approach to problem solving has led to a new interest in leadership training," says Todd Leach, associate dean of graduate and professional programs at Northeastern University's School of Professional and Continuing Studies in Boston. "One of our most popular graduate programs is the Master of Science in Leadership, which we introduced about two years ago in a new executive format. It allows students to earn the degree in one year, and emphasizes a cohort environment, in which the same group of students stays together throughout the program.
At Lasell College in Newton, specialized programs related to the elder-care business are attracting students. "The reason they're so strong is that it's a growing field and people recognize there are a lot of job opportunities here," says Mark Sciegaj, dean of graduate and professional studies. "We have a number of people who already have an MBA or master's degree and want a focus on elder care." Lasell offers graduate certificates in elder care administration and elder care marketing.
Similarly, at UMass-Boston's Division of Corporate, Continuing, and Distance Education (CCDE), the online master's in management of aging services is growing in popularity, says marketing director Brian Middleton. The online master's in education in instructional design is also attracting lots of students. CCDE offers both aging services and instructional design as graduate certificates. "These programs are aimed at working professionals interested in changing careers or advancing in their current workplace," says Middleton, who notes that noncredit professional training is another area showing strong growth. CCDE offers these courses in Practical Project Management, Negotiation Skills for Project Managers, and Improved Communications for Leaders and Professionals.
Middleton and others say universities are busy adapting longtime popular programs to meet the changing needs of their adult students, especially those trying to move into a different, but related, field.
"We see people coming out of the science and health fields looking for a change in career, but trying to build on their experience," says Northeastern's Leach. "Our master's degree in regulatory affairs (for drugs, biologics, and medical devices) has become very popular, especially with so many developments in new technologies. With all the changes in governmental regulations, pharmaceutical companies need people with strong science backgrounds to help keep them ahead of the curve." The basic knowledge of regulations can help students explore opportunities in sales, marketing, and clinical investigations.
One of the largest programs at Regis College in Weston this fall will be a master's in nursing (MSN) for those who have a bachelor's in a field other than nursing and want to pursue a nursing career. In three years these students can earn the BSN and MSN. The college's other most popular program is for nurses who have an RN, but don't have a bachelor's yet. They earn a BSN and then continue on to the MSN.
"Nursing continues to be a growing field of interest in terms of careers," says Joseph Bellavance, Jr., vice president for planning and enrollment at Regis. "We have a reputation for nursing education and an affiliation with 11 different hospitals in the Boston area, where demand for nurses is greater than supply."
No matter what the most popular majors are, universities are ready to adapt and allow programs to evolve to reflect student interests.
