Excelsior College Launches Military Spouse Program

Spouses to receive same reduced fees and opportunities as servicemembers

ALBANY, NY (03/25/2008)(readMedia)-- Spouses of military personnel from all branches are now eligible to receive the same reduced fees, course registration, degree and certification opportunities that are available to servicemembers through Excelsior College’s online and distance learning programs. The college has also introduced a Military Spouse Scholarship Program to make the cost of earning a degree or professional certification more affordable to military families.

Spouses of active duty military, Reserve, and National Guard personnel can benefit from all of the reduced fees and payment options that are currently available to their husbands and wives who are serving our country. Included in these benefits are:

  • Reduced fees based on the number of Excelsior College courses taken under Excelsior’s Military Enrollment Option 1
  • Military undergraduate tuition rate of $250 per credit hour
  • Military Spouse Scholarship Program that qualified persons may use toward Excelsior College fees, undergraduate and graduate tuition expense, fees for Excelsior College Examinations, and the cost for non-credit programs at the college’s Center for Professional Development.

“Excelsior has a very long and proud tradition of serving the educational needs of the women and men serving in our nation’s military,” said President John Ebersole, Cmdr., USCG, ret. “We have a special kinship with and a responsibility to servicemembers and their spouses in fulfilling Excelsior’s mission to expand educational opportunity with efficiency, economy and academic excellence. Military families experience frequent moves and various hardships, whether or not their loved ones are serving in a war zone. If we can make it more convenient and affordable for military spouses to earn academic and professional credentials that will bring greater financial independence to their families then that, too, is part of our mission.”

Approximately one-fourth of Excelsior’s 35,000 students is comprised of military personnel. Earlier this year, the college was ranked by Military Advanced Education (MAE) as one of the top ten colleges nationwide for service to the U.S. military. And, in 2006, Excelsior College received the Council of College and Military Educators’ (CCME) Institutional Award for its work with the Army’s Sergeants Major Academy. On average, about one-third of each class at the Academy earns a degree from Excelsior.

Excelsior College offers 36 programs leading to associate, bachelor’s or master’s degrees and five credit-bearing certificate programs. Through its Center for Professional Development, more than 200 non-credit programs -- including many that may lead to industry certification opportunities -- provide preparation for careers in a variety of professions and open up employment possibilities wherever persons are located.

Online programs are designed to meet the needs of working adults at the time and in the place they are ready to learn. In a December 2007 Excelsior College/Zogby International survey of 1,547 CEOs and small business owners nationwide, among those who are familiar with online or distance learning programs, more than four in five (83%) strongly believe that a degree earned via an online program is as credible as one earned through a traditional campus-based program.

For more information, interested students may call Excelsior at 888-647-2388 or email the Admissions Office at admissions@excelsior.edu.

Excelsior College (www.excelsior.edu) is a private, nonprofit institution of higher learning and a recognized world leader in the field of online education. Founded in 1971 and located in Albany, N.Y., it is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Excelsior College Examinations are recognized by the American Council on Education (ACE), Center for Adult Learning and Educational Credentials, for the award of college-level credit.

U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Colleges” report has repeatedly recognized Excelsior College with top rankings for number of transfer students in the nation and the highest percentage of students over 25 years old.

(Top 100 Lists http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankwebex_brief.php)

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