Even though online learning programs are relatively new for many institutions of higher education, Berkeley College has been proudly offering online courses since 1998.  Today, Berkeley Online features over 270 courses and 28 degree programs, which complement the College’s eight on-site locations in New York and New Jersey.  Blackboard began supporting this innovative school nearly a decade ago, and our role in facilitating administrative ease and student engagement continues today.

Blackboard’s partnership with Berkeley College has grown and evolved in a way that reflects the school’s commitment to frequent, open communication.  The school currently leverages Blackboard Learn 9.1 to create a centralized information portal, allowing students the ability to easily view grades, transcript requests, and tuition information online.  The Learn 9.1 platform even provides outlets for course enrollment, tutoring, and professional development for professors- all from one easy-to-navigate, online portal.

One of the most recent developments in our partnership with Berkeley College has been the school’s implementation of Blackboard Mobile Learn.  This powerful online tool allows student and faculty alike to access course content and information on a variety of devices, including smartphones and tablet PCs.  As a result, students are able to access crucial course information anytime, anywhere within the fast-paced and highly connected world in which they live.

Beyond providing a stable learning platform and mobile learning capabilities, here are some other benefits Blackboard brings to Berkeley College:

• Comprehensive Connectivity:  Communication-rich features engage students throughout their educational experience- from registration through coursework assessment.
• Exceptional Stability:  Berkeley College is one of more than 1,500 institutions that have adopted the Blackboard Learn 9.1 platform because of its stability and enhanced functionality.
• Valuable Partnership:  The responsiveness of the Blackboard team has been critical to maintaining Berkeley’s operations, and the long-term partnership has helped the school fulfill the promise of online education.

Do you want to learn more about how Blackboard is benefitting institutions like Berkeley?  Check out our recent case study “A Powerful Partnership: Blackboard Keeps Berkeley College Connected” to read more, and contact us to learn how you can leverage Blackboard for your professional college or university.

A recent article from the Washington Post spurred some interesting online discussions about the advantages of for-profit universities.  In the article, columnist Jay Matthews provides five reasons why career colleges, which are relatively new to the higher education scene, will survive and thrive in the long term:

1.  For-profit schools are less of a drain on tax dollars than non-profit or public schools. Georgetown University business school researcher Robert J. Shapiro and his fellow economist Nam D. Pham found that for-profit schools received less than 30 percent of the government financial support per student that public institutions and their students do.

2.  The public and non-profit private universities that dominate higher education are doing less with their money. They are building luxury dorms, restaurants and athletic facilities which don’t produce more learning or more graduates. In 2007 the United States spent 3.1 percent of its gross domestic product on post-secondary education, twice the 1.5 percent spent by other developed countries that produce more graduates per capita.

The ProEd division of Blackboard has launched a new campaign encouraging professional and career colleges to make the switch to a modern, student centric learning delivery platform – Blackboard Learn ™.  Eligible institutions that switch to Blackboard Learn will receive a discount towards their conversion.

The “Evolve with Us” campaign is meant to inspire schools to embrace a more open, innovative solution and not feel trapped with an obsolete learning platform that has not progressed in years.  Our ads feature similarly evolving technology icons such as a work horse evolving to an Italian sports car, an old record player to modern new speakers, and – my personal favorite – a play on the traditional “evolution” graphic with technology.

Our campaign also touts Blackboard ProEd’s ability to provide instant collaboration, an open database strategy, access to business intelligence, configurable learning environments through cascading style sheets, and native, mobile learning to name a few. Here are a few additional advertising pieces that will be used in conjunction with this campaign. Is your institution ready to make the switch and evolve with Blackboard Learn?  You can contact me directly to learn more at tom.holz@blackboard.com.

As the Director of Sales and Market Development for the Professional and Career College Market, I am of course active with the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU), a voluntary membership organization of accredited, private, postsecondary schools, institutes, colleges and universities that provide career-specific educational programs.  I just recently attended their Winter Senior Executive Management Seminar in Beaver Creek, Colorado, and am more energized than ever about the incredible focus on the student that these colleges provide.