Many people know a college student or a working professional pursuing an online degree in business, health care, information technology or education.
But as institutions learn more about program design, the range of academic pursuits online undergraduate students can tackle is growing, experts say.
“People are stepping away from the thought of, ‘You can’t learn that online,'” says Cali Morrison, communications manager at WCET, an organization that advocates for effective technology use in higher education.
By building online programs that blend practical experience with academic course work, more institutions are teaching traditionally hands-on subjects virtually, with nursing programs in many ways providing a template, Morrison says.
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And now in 2015, it’s possible to get an online bachelor’s degree in fire and emergency services administration, aviation, integrative health or even horticulture.
— Bachelor of Science in Fire and Emergency Services Administration: Colorado State University has offered a bachelor’s in fire and emergency services administration for nearly 15 years to meet department demands for higher levels of education, says program coordinator Larry Grosse.
“More and more departments were requiring a bachelor’s degree to be a fire chief or a battalion chief or an officer, to move up in the ranks, and particularly your larger cities began to require that,” Grosse says.
Because fire professionals have to remain in their department jurisdictions, an online program made sense even in the early days of Web technology.
Students first complete their associate degree in fire science technology at a local community college that teaches physical firefighting skills. They then move into their third and fourth years at Colorado State to take courses that cover management and administration issues in fire and emergency response fields.
Roughly 150 students are enrolled in the program, Grosse says, which has strong connections to several larger Colorado fire departments through its advising board.
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— Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics: Liberty University is one of a growing number of aviation programs offering aeronautics bachelor’s degrees to respond to the industry’s increasing qualification demands for pilots , says Ernie Rogers, an associate professor at Liberty’s school of aeronautics.
When the program began four years ago, it served only pilots from the Army or regional airlines who had completed their flying requirements and needed to take only academic course work. A sample of courses includes high-speed aerodynamics, multiengine theory and aviation weather.
More recently, the program has been restructured so students can complete their physical flying training through Liberty’s residential program or a partner flight school, allowing students to obtain financial aid for the whole process.
“It now made them eligible for Pell Grants and student loans and things like that,” Rogers said. “We made the flight training a lab fee for a flight course. So it really worked out great.”
The program has 200 students and receives roughly 30 new applications every week, says Rogers, who is hoping to grow its list of partners to 50 flight schools.
Savio Barretto, a Houston-based pilot who graduated from Liberty’s program in November, says even experienced aviators would find the program content challenging .
“It’s not just ‘check-the-box’ material,” he said. “I actually learned several things and refreshed a lot of stuff that I’d forgotten since my days of flight training.”
— Bachelor of Science in Integrative Health: In August, Arizona State University will launch its undergraduate administrative health bachelor’s program to appeal to students for whom nursing is almost — but not quite — the right fit.
“Either they don’t meet the requirements to progress into the degree, or they start and then they realize that really, they’re interested in health care but they’re not really interested in becoming a nurse,” says Brenda Hosley, a clinical associate professor at ASU’s school of nursing and health innovation.
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The program will educate students about how the variety of holistic health and wellness services available outside the traditional medical system may benefit different kinds of patients. The hope is students who graduate from the program may find jobs in hospitals and other medical settings as educators who connect patients to such services.
Hosley says the program is being launched partly in anticipation of jobs that may be created through President Barack Obama’s health care law.
“One of the things we’ve realized is we’re really kind of ahead of the market,” says Hosley. “But we do know that several hospitals currently are looking at complementary and alternative kinds of treatment modalities, and so they need that liaison person in their facilities.”
— Bachelor of Science in Horticulture: Oregon State University launched its online horticulture degree in the 2010-2011 academic year after the school had offered a single online horticulture course for the previous five years.
“It was really in response to people asking for it,” says Sarah McDonald, who helped found the program as an academic adviser at the school’s department of horticulture. “We had a lot of calls from people saying, ‘You’ve got this one course, do you have a degree?'”
Students must complete OSU’s general education requirements, as well as a year’s worth of general biology, to earn the degree.
McDonald says many are already working in the industry and are targeting managerial positions.
“They’re getting the sort of academic learning and background to build on their hands-on experience and potentially give them the opportunity to advance,” she says.
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Discover 4 Unusual Online Bachelor’s Degrees originally appeared on usnews.com
