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Medical copays reduce health care access in MS prisons; Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah according to official sources; Serving looks with books: Libraries fight 'fast fashion' by lending clothes; Menhaden decline threatens Virginia's ecosystem, fisheries.

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JD Vance calls for toning down political rhetoric, while calls for his resignation grow because of his own comments. The Secret Service again faces intense criticism, and a right to IVF is again voted down in the US Senate.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Debunking the Non-Traditional Higher-Education Stigma

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Tuesday, March 7, 2023   

Many college students balance family and work responsibilities with academics - making non-traditional higher education a lifeline to a future degree and career. But high school counselors do not always encourage students to go that route.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown boosted interest in distance learning, according to Sue Subocz, associate president and provost of Walden University.

Many students who transfer from community colleges to online learning, which opens up higher education to a group of people who might not otherwise get to participate, she said.

"Getting that foundation - really understanding - if you're going to make your way through the rest of the degree, it's just going to facilitate that process of earning that bachelor's later," Subocz said. "You don't have to start there to end there."

Walden offers online nursing programs leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, Subocz said, positions that need filling in Texas, which is now short about 30,000 nurses - a number expected to double by 2032, according to the Texas Nursing Association.

Jacinto Ramos, who completed his Doctor of Education degree through Walden, said the college's mission statement aligned with his lived experience and professional goals.

"I did have one semester where I fell off - life got so hectic - and I recall the phone calls I was getting from Walden personnel - checking in on me, making sure that I was OK, so that social emotional support meant the world to me and helped me get back on track the very next semester," Ramos said.

Subocz said there are still stigmas associated with non-traditional forms of higher education, even those schools are a significant contributor to a diverse and multicultural workforce population.

"You can start in a place where class size is often half, a third, a quarter of what you're going to see at a university with highly qualified faculty and that it comes at about a tenth of the cost - it just makes you wonder why everyone doesn't do it," she said.

According to the American Association of Community Colleges, community college graduates dominate certain professional fields, including those of health and security - which includes 80% of all law enforcement officers, EMTs, and firefighters.

Disclosure: Adtalem Global Education contributes to our fund for reporting on Education, Health Issues, Livable Wages/Working Families. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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