MBAoutlook.com

By Dean Anderson

Riding a wave for much of the last decade, the business of adult education seems to be heading toward an all-time high as America’s economy tries to avoid hitting an all-time low. And with more and more Oklahomans out of work, universities and vocational schools are in fierce competition for adults looking to change careers.

With five schools at its Oklahoma City campus – including computerized drafting and design, information technology, criminal justice, electronics technology and health sciences – ITT Technical Institute serves 330 students.

Paul Jackson, the dean at ITT Technical Institute in Oklahoma City, says the school specializes in helping already busy people change their lives.

“We have to take into account that they bring already a lifetime of experiences,” Jackson says. “We’re usually dealing with a person juggling a full-time job, family obligations and commitments, plus other work they do in the community. We are well aware that our students, their plate is already full, and we’re putting an extra helping of things to do on there.”

Finding ways to make degree advancement easier on students has helped adult-education offerings thrive. 

ONLINE DEGREE
Oklahoma Christian announced this summer the offering of the school’s first completely online degree. The school’s MBA students have the option to complete their degree either on campus, online or a combination of the two.

“Our intent was to add flexibility to the program so a person at their busy time of year or looking at their schedule could be in class for one night a week one semester and could take online classes the other time,” says Ken Johnson, Oklahoma Christian’s MBA director. “It was meant to add options to our students as far as continuing their education and completing their degree in one year.”

A majority of the schools in the state now offer fast-track degrees in different majors, ranging from business to education.

Johnson says enrollment in the MBA program already exceeds 200, and nearly 80 students are expected to graduate before the fall.

“We’re extremely pleased with the progress we’ve made in the last few months with our recruitment. We think the best is yet to come and we’re on track,” he says.

“Adult education is probably the biggest growth area and the most competitive, not only in Oklahoma, but nationwide, especially with the current economic situation,” says Art Cotton, Oklahoma City University vice president of advancement and external relations. “People tend to, in tough economic times, if they lose a job or have their hours cut … they go back and finish a degree or get a graduate degree as kind of a hedge on their bet. They come back and might get an MBA, law degree or master’s to make them a better employee for their current employer and maybe make them recession-proof.”

One of the hottest fields is health care, particularly nursing.

With a projected national shortfall of nurses numbering in the hundreds of thousands over the next decade, OCU’s Kramer School of Nursing ditched its traditional application and waiting process, opening the degree program to all eligible students.

Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City offers free tuition, books and uniform for nurses’ aide students who agree to work for 12 months in a nursing facility that accepts state assistance. ITT added its nursing program this year and will accept 30 starts per quarter to reach a maximum of 270 students at its more than 30,000-square-foot campus, located on the third level of 50 Penn Place.

While universities were in an arms race to turn out even more fast-track programs, the economy seems to be slowing things down a bit. Corporate continuing education budgets have tightened, if not disappeared altogether. And with an uncertain future, students are still pursuing degrees, just at a different pace.

“We still have great numbers; however, what they’re doing is slowing down the process,” Johnson says. “I don’t know if it’s a matter about uncertainty on spending that money on tuition, employee benefits or if they’re timing their graduation to when there are more jobs out there. I think all of those are playing a part in the number of students we have, as well as how quickly they’re wanting to go through the program.”

From: OKC BIZ

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