During the past few years Pacific Union College (PUC) has enthusiastically expanded its graduate degree programs in education, nursing, communication, and business, offering flexibility, small class sizes, experiential learning, and, most important, a Christian environment that empowers students with opportunities within the Seventh-day Adventist world and beyond.
Having offered the Master of Education program for some time, the college decided to broaden its offerings in other high-demand fields in an online setting, which has ultimately allowed PUC to expand its reach to more students in California and Hawaii. Currently the M.Ed. degree is a summer-based program that exposes graduates to teaching skills and technological proficiency, scholarly research, and leadership development while observing classroom trends and issues.
Milbert Mariano, dean of the School of Arts, Humanities, and Professions, emphasized the need to reach students beyond PUC. “We are adding to our list of online graduate programs providing much-needed training for busy professionals who want to advance their careers through master’s degrees,” he said.
To keep up with the high demand for nurses in the job market, PUC now offers a Master of Science in Nursing, a 100 percent online program that provides core, specialty, and practicum courses to students who already hold a B.S.N. Two areas of specialization within this program are nursing education and nursing leadership and business management, equipping graduates for roles in healthcare and academia, as well as for administrative roles in healthcare settings.
Other programs designed for the working professional are the Master of Arts in Communication and the Master of Business Administration, both 100 percent online, which each offer three emphases and collaborate on one of those specializations: Strategic Communication.
Available in the M.A. in Communication are the communication research, strategic communication, and health communication emphases, as well as stackable certificates, whereas the M.B.A. degree offers specializations in health-care administration, management, and strategic communication—allowing students to gain mentorship and learn under the guidance of experienced, faith-based faculty members.
Tara Hargrove, chair of the Department of Communications and World Languages and Culture, shared, “I am especially looking forward to more collaborations with other departments, institutions, and organizations.”
—Marina Maher, Pacific Union College
