WVROCKS awards more than 10,000 credit hours to adult learners
Release from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Adult students now can take advantage of a flexible, family-friendly pathway toward a college degree, thanks to the West Virginia Remote Online Collaborative Knowledge System (WVROCKS).
In 2016, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC) chose to expand the WVROCKS online portal system, making it broader and more efficient. Since then, it has doubled the number of credit hours awarded to students. As of this past semester, more than 10,500 credit hours have been earned via the online portal.
The system collaborates with higher education institutions in the state to help nontraditional students earn a Regents Bachelor of Arts (RBA) degree from home. The goal of the program is to give students with busy lives flexibility in scheduling so they may continue their normal responsibilities while simultaneously earning a college degree.
“WVROCKS is perfect for busy adult learners wanting to go back to school. Not only does it offer flexibility in terms of class time and location, but it is also efficient,”
said HEPC Chancellor Dr. Paul Hill.
With its accelerated eight-week format (as opposed to the standard 16-week college course), students can complete 15 credit hours per year while only taking one course at a time.
This convenience and flexibility leads to an impressive retention rate. Ninety-three percent of students who enroll through WVROCKS actually attend the online classes. Ninety-two percent of students complete their classes, 84 percent of those with a passing grade.
One student who benefited from WVROCKS, Mary Bradford of Bluefield, W.Va., said that without the flexibility of the program, earning a degree would have been a daunting task, especially with a family that includes three children. In May of 2017, she graduated from the Bluefield State College Regents Program with an emphasis in Psychology.
“WVROCKS allowed me to finish my senior year and still be there for my family,” Bradford said. “Because of this online education option, my dream of a bachelor’s degree was made a reality.”
Another WVROCKS student, Ray Farley of Princeton, W.Va., said after 22 years out of school he couldn’t imagine sitting still in class and taking notes, so when he heard there was an online option through WVROCKS, he chose to finally finish his degree. Farley completed his Regents Bachelor of Arts Degree in the fall of 2016.
“Technology has certainly made a huge jump in education since I started way back then. It enables non-traditional students like me who have a limited amount of time due to full-time work and family to be able to set aside time and have an easy to use medium to enable us to finish our degree,” said Farley. “I would not have gone back to college if I would have had to sit in a classroom for three hours a day several times a week. With WVROCKS, I was able to schedule and complete the required assignments on my time.”
The WVROCKS portal provides remote online courses to institutions across the state, including Bluefield State College, Concord University, Fairmont State University, Marshall University and Shepherd University.
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Media contacts:
Samantha Godby at 304.558.0087 ext. 265 or email at [email protected].
Dr. Roxann A. Humbert, founding and executive director of wvrocks at 304.293.5192 ext. 270 or email at [email protected].
