Southwestern College has entered into a partnership with Point Loma Nazarene University to offer four-year bachelor degrees for certain majors.
Under the partnership, students can enroll in PLNU courses toward a bachelor’s degree on SWC’s campus, a collaboration that the private university has started with community colleges throughout the county, said Yvette Miranda, PLNU’s program advisor.
“As Point Loma started talking to the other community colleges, Southwestern was really excited about the whole prospect and they actually chose to do more than just the registered nurse bachelor of science and nursing (program),” she said. “They’ve been pretty receptive from the beginning in exploring a bunch of different opportunities.”
Students in the program will participate in a 15-month, one-day-a-week program to obtain a bachelor’s degree in one of four programs — management and relational development, child and adolescent development, nursing and criminal justice.
The nursing and criminal justice programs started orientation last week with the other programs scheduled to begin in spring 2016.
Cathy McJannet, director of SWC’s nursing program, said the partnership is another opportunity for student achievement.
“With our students who are graduating, it’s really important that they get their bachelor’s degree,” she said. “We worked hard at this college to see more matriculation and we had one program that we’re successful with and now we have Point Loma.”
Miranda said the partnership is essential for nursing students because many hospitals are now requiring that 80 percent of their nurses obtain a bachelor’s degree by 2020.
Miranda said the programs are exclusively for students 21 to 23 years old who have earned an associate’s degree.
“The associate’s degree completion module is geared toward helping members of the community receive a bachelor’s degree,” she said.
Students in the program are officially PLNU students who take classes at SWC with PLNU faculty. There also is a student services division to help students prepare, like resume workshops. Most programs require the completion of an internship.
“We are not just doing the academic program, we’re also doing career development services,” she said.
Tuition for PLNU students is different from traditional PLNU students because this program is exclusively designed for adult learners from 21 to 23 years old with an associate degree, Miranda said.
The discounted costs of tuition are about $17,500 for the whole 15-month program, which includes books. After transferring from SWC with an associate degree in nursing, the PLNU tuition to earn a bachelor’s degree in the same field is $16,200, according to Kathy Tyner, SWC’s vice president of academic affairs.
SWC criminal justice students transferring to PLNU under the partnership will pay $17,640 in tuition. And those earning a bachelor’s degree in management and recreational development will pay $17,460.
For every SWC group of 15 students, SWC is provided with a $1,000 donation to the SWC library.
Undergraduate tuition at PLNU costs about $15,900 for a full-time student per semester, a yearly cost of about $31,800.
“Students are able to complete their upper division coursework in 18 months, which could lead to cost savings in the long run because students don’t have to wait for classes in impacted majors at public universities and can seek a career sooner, Tyner wrote in an email.
