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After about a year of planning, St. Joseph’s College launched an online campus last week, offering online-only degrees and certificates in fields like criminal justice, health administration and human resources.
We caught up with St. Joseph’s administrator and history teacher Mark Hessler and asked him five questions about the new program.
Q: How do the online-only tuition costs compare to on-campus learning?
A: It’s about a 35 percent discount for undergraduate and about 40 percent discount for graduate. It’s about $490 per credit, compared with $720 for a traditional undergraduate credit. And it’s the same $490 for online undergraduate and graduate programs. Graduate credits typically cost a bit more, which is why there’s more of a discount, percentage-wise, there.
Q: Will online-only diplomas and certificates be marked differently?
B: No.
Q: Will online-only students have the opportunity to participate in sports and other activities?
A: Our assumption is that most students taking online would not be on campus, either not in the radius where that’s practical, or not really able to participate in these things due to work schedules or other factors. But certainly if a student wanted, we’d work with that student to find out how best to accommodate him or her. But if a student comes here, they’re a St. Joseph’s student if they want to use the pool, gym facilities, weight rooms, by all means.
Q: Where do you expect the students to come from? How will you market to them?
A: We’re partnered with Hobsons, and they’re one of the top digital marketing firm out there for online education. They’re concentrating in the region from Philadelphia to Boston. This is partly because people know St. Joseph’s already, and partly because research has shown people tend to enroll in schools in their region. But we’ll take all-comers. Its no different joining this program from Nebraska then it is joining it from next door.
Q: Are there concerns about losing students who would otherwise enroll in on-campus programs?
A: Our assumption is that will be minimal. What research has shown is that these will be mostly working adults. These are people who already have a lot of professional experience and a lot of developed skills that are either coming back to college or starting it later on in their career.
Or they at some point left college and are looking to come back. This is a flexible alternative.
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St. Joseph’s College, which is about to enter its 100th year, was founded in 1916 in Brooklyn as a school for women and today has campuses in Brooklyn and Patchogue, along with the new St. Joseph’s College Online.
Below is a list of degrees and certificates now available through St. Joseph’s Online Campus:
The online undergraduate degree programs include:
- B.S. in Criminal Practice and Policy
- B.S. in General Studies
- B.S. in Health Administration
- B.S. in Human Services
- B.S. in Organizational ManagementUndergraduate and advanced certificate programs include:
- Human Resources
- Human Resources Management
- Human Services Leadership
- Leadership and SupervisionGraduate degree programs include:
- Executive Master’s in Business Administration
- Master’s in Human Services Leadership
- Master’s in Management with a concentration in Human Resources Management
- Master’s in Management with a concentration in Organizational Management
Dual degree programs include:
- B.S. in Organizational Management/Executive Master’s in Business Administration
- B.S. in Human Services/Master’s in Human Services Leadership
Photo: The Patchogue campus of St. Joseph’s College. (Credit: St. Joseph’s courtesy photo)
