Why Maryville Online Information Session – Online Bachelor’s Degrees

“Why Maryville Online” is the perfect information session for those looking to obtain or finish their Bachelor’s degree online, at their convenience. Learn more about admission, tuition, and an overview of available online Bachelor’s degree programs from Senior Enrollment Advisor, Karen Tucci.

Sarah Frost: Excellent. Thank you so much. Again, my name is Sarah Frost, I’m a marketing manager here as part of the Maryville team. Thank you for joining us for the Why Choose Maryville Online Webinar and information session this evening. I just wanted to go over a few housekeeping items before we begin. Today, you’re in listen only mode. If you need to ask a question please go ahead and type it into the Q&A box at any time. We’ll address questions after the webinar is complete. Roughly 24 to 48 hours after the webinar is complete we’ll go ahead and email you all the recording of it, so you can watch it on demand, and as always feel free to utilize the resource list on the left side of your screen after the webinar. That includes a link to our online application, or schedule an appointment with an enrollment advisor.

Sarah Frost: I just wanted to briefly talk about what we’re going to be covering this evening as well. Again, thank you for registering. Today, we’ll be covering the history of Maryville University, Maryville online, accreditation and recognition, online experience, and highlights, admission requirements to the university, a quick overview of programs, and our early access program, as well as the application process. I do have my colleague here, so I’d like to introduce you to Karen Tucci, senior enrollment advisor, and Karen I’ll let you go ahead and talk a little bit about yourself before I turn it over to you.

Karen Tucci: Sounds good. Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us. My name is Karen Tucci, I am a senior enrollment advisor here. I work with many students on a daily basis to get them enrolled in school online, here. I hold a bachelors degree in sociology, and a masters degree in higher education. I have been an advisor for approximately almost nine years. I’m happy to answer any of your questions today, and thank you again for joining us.

Sarah Frost: Thank you, Karen.

Karen Tucci: Let’s get started, and please just remember that if you do have any questions I’ll be happy to answer them at the end of the session, you have your Q&A on your screen. A little bit about Maryville University, just so you know we are located in St. Louis, Missouri. We are a real university that was founded in 1872. We are ranked as a top private school by US News, and World Report, and Kiplinger’s. We are also an Apple distinguished school, digital world initiative. We’re ranked among America’s top colleges in Forbes 2017.

Karen Tucci: We are also accredited by the higher learning commission, and what accreditation we hold is regional accreditation, which is the highest accreditation that a university can hold. We have numerous corporate partnerships. Right now, we have approximately over 8,000 students. We have 90 degrees at the undergraduate level, masters, and doctoral levels. We have a very diverse student body representing 50 states, and 60 countries.

Karen Tucci: We want to make sure that we meet the highest standards, not only for ourselves, but obviously for our students. Our undergraduate business program is at the John E Simon School of Business is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs. Once again, we are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, it’s a regional accreditation. We are ranked among America’s top colleges. We are also ranked among the best values in private colleges in regards to Kiplinger’s personal finance 2018. We are an Apple distinguished school.

Karen Tucci: Maryville is focused on you. One of the top things that we want to make sure is that you would have a successful experience here. Learning is very personal, and so is our support, and our approach. We provide you with support every step of the way. You can access your courses 100% online as long as you have an internet connection. We do not require an SAT, or an ACT entrance exam. Financial aid is available to those who apply, and qualify. You can choose from three start dates. We have a fall, a spring, and a summer. We also will accept transfer credits. We do have a transfer credit team that will evaluate that for you. Right now, there is no application fee to apply.

Karen Tucci: The Maryville online learning experience. There’s actually a program that you will be using in order to access your courses. It’s called Canvas. Some of you may be familiar with that, right now, but it is called Canvas, if you’ve taken online courses before it’s very user friendly, engaging interactive experiences. We try to have very small class sizes. We like to keep the classes to 15 students, and then we have a professor that typically holds a doctoral degree. The program is fully asynchronous on learning environment, you don’t have to log in at any certain time, as I stated it is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s why it does adapt to your personal schedule, also your work schedule, because it’s very convenient for you. We also have a learning management system that you can use, and there’s also many flexible options for mobile learning. You can view the course content from any device.

Karen Tucci: One of the great things about Maryville is if you are interested in some of our other masters programs, we do offer some early access options to many of the graduate programs. The early access program lets you earn up to 12 hours of graduate credits while completing your undergraduate degree program. This does obviously save you time, it saves you money on tuition towards completion of your master’s degree. There is a list there that you obviously can read in regards to eligible undergraduate programs that are included in this program. You can also see that it does apply to a few of our master’s degrees, the MBA, the MS Cyber and Security, the MS and Software Development, the MS and Health Administration, or the Masters of Science in Data Analytics.

Karen Tucci: Qualified students can, as I stated, take up to 12 hours of graduate course work that also fulfills the undergraduate credit hour requirements. These are some things that you would discuss with your enrollment advisor once you are starting the program. To apply you needed to complete a minimum of 75 hours towards your undergraduate degree, that’s at least 20 of those credits at Maryville. Earn a grade point average of at least 3.25. You would need to submit an application. You’d also need to do an admission essay with that application, and that’s approximately 500 word max of your interest in the graduate program.

Karen Tucci: Some of the programs that we have available to you online, right now, and that we are taking applications for, for August. In our College of Arts and Sciences we have a bachelor’s in psychology, a bachelor’s in forensic psychology with criminal justice, a bachelor’s in criminal justice criminology, a bachelor’s in organizational leadership, a bachelor’s in liberal studies, and a bachelor’s in communication. In our School of Business we currently have a bachelor’s in marketing, a bachelor’s in business administration, a bachelor’s in financial services, and we also have a bachelor’s in management information systems. In our College of Health Professions we have a bachelor’s in healthcare program management, a bachelor’s in general studies with a concentration in healthcare, and also a bachelor’s in nursing.

Karen Tucci: Some of the great things about Maryville that’s very important to our students, and we want to make sure that you feel confident in joining us, as a Maryville online student you will have access to a personal online program advisor that will be with you until you start classes. You also have a dedicated technical support team, career and professional development, there’s also an online library, and a writing studio. The writing studio is there to help you with your papers, make sure that you’re properly referencing them, so you’re more than welcome to send them a paper, and they’ll take a look at it for you. These are some of the things that you will have access to immediately. Once you start the program, you will also have access to a student support service’s advisor that will follow with you until you graduate.

Karen Tucci: Of course after all this great information I’m sure you want to know how do I apply? Our application deadline is coming up, which you definitely still have time. Typically, people can get their application, and transcripts in within five to seven business days. Our fall application deadline is coming up it is July 16th. What we would need for you to do is have all of your official transcripts sent to the address below. You can also submit the online application, which will take you about 15 minutes to do. You can also email your transcript to our online admissions at online.maryville.edu. If you have any questions, you can select on your screen to schedule an appointment from the resource list on the right to schedule an appointment with an enrollment advisor. You can also check out our admissions check list, it’s also located in the resource list.

Karen Tucci: Here are some of our admission requirements. Incoming freshman, we do require a high school diploma, or a GED. A minimum high school grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale. Like we said in the beginning there are no standardized tests. If you’re a transfer student coming in, we do require a minimum of a GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale, and that includes your college work. Applicants with below a 2.0 cumulative GPA may be considered for admission on probation. There are no standardized tests required. Your associates degree if you’re coming in with one, could possibly complete many of our general education requirements here. That’s something that we will evaluate for you. Just so you know our RN to bachelor of nursing completion program, and our healthcare management program both require a cumulative GPA of 2.5 when you’re coming in as a transfer student.

Karen Tucci: Tuition and financial aid, very important to everyone when they’re choosing a school. Our per credit our is $500.00, and that’s for a 128 credits in the bachelor’s program. However, I do just want to remind you that if you are coming in with some transfer credits that we’re going to evaluate for you, it’s very likely that you would not have to take the full 128 credits. Every semester, which is 16 weeks, there is a fee of $350.00, so you’re paying for your course, you’re paying for the one fee, and then you also will have to pay for your books. Some of the financing options that are available to you, you can apply for FAFSA, the Federal Student Aid, and that’s a free application, and our school code is right there for you, and if you’re eligible, and you qualify you could receive possibly grants or loans. There is the Federal Pell Grant. We also do have payment options here, so if that’s something that you’re interested in you can discuss that with your enrollment advisor. Some companies offer employee tuition reimbursement. There are some military benefits, and also some people pay with private student loans.

Sarah Frost: Excellent, Karen. Thank you so much. Just a friendly reminder that fall term application deadline is coming up very, very soon, July 16th. I’m actually going to place the call on mute for just a quick moment. I know we’ve got some questions coming in, so far, but this will give you an opportunity to go ahead and utilize that Q&A box, so we’ll just give you a few more moments then to ask your question …

Karen Tucci: Okay. The first questions that we have is, “Can you take summer classes, also?” You can take classes year round. We have spring, summer, and fall. Right now, we are just accepting applications for fall, however, if you do start in fall you’re going to be taking classes in the fall, and then you’re going to take classes in the spring, summer, and fall. You go year round if that’s what you’d like to do. To explain that just a little bit better to you, here at Maryville, we start you off with one eight week class, and then after that one eight week class you’re going to have two eight week classes, and you will continue to have two eight week classes until you have completed the program. Thank you.

Sarah Frost: Great question. Thank you, Karen. Let’s take another one.

Karen Tucci: Sure. “Do I have to purchase books for the online bachelor’s psychology program?” Yes, you do have to purchase books for all of our programs here. There are many different ways that you can get books, the books are located in your syllabus, so it will tell you which books that you can get, you can order the books from our bookstore, you can order them possibly from Amazon, there’s also a website called, Chegg. I actually did a program, and I ordered my books through Amazon, and I rented my books through Amazon, which was fantastic, because I didn’t have to pay the full price, and then when I was done with the book, I just returned it. There are many different ways that you can get your books for class. Great question.

Sarah Frost: Absolutely.

Karen Tucci: All right. We’re going to pull up another one here. “Do you go by quarter system, or semester? How many credit hours can you take up to?” Great question. We go by semesters. Every semester it’s 16 weeks long, and in every semester besides the very first one you are going to be taking 12 credit hours, and that is the most that you can take, so you’ll take two eight week classes, each class is three credits, and then you’re going to take another two eight week classes, each class is three credits, that adds up to 12 credit hours each semester.

Sarah Frost: Great question, again.

Karen Tucci: Okay. There’s a question about, let’s see, okay about financial aid, it says, “I am concerned if I have enough financial aid to cover all of my courses for the forensic psychology.” Yeah. That’s a big concern for everyone. My advice to you would be first make sure that you’ve completed your FAFSA your free application for Federal Student aid, once you’ve completed that it usually takes about 24 to 48 hours to process. I would then contact our student support services center, if you are a student they will discuss with you your options. However, if you are not a student already you can contact financial aid, as well, but you and your enrollment advisor can work on that, but typically, yeah, that’s a great question, I mean everyone is concerned about how I’m going to pay for this, which you won’t know until you successfully completed your FAFSA, and then talked with our student support services team. The FAFSA’s free, so completing it really is just taking some time.

Karen Tucci: “Do you offer an online master’s in counseling program? If not, are there any plans for offering it in the future?” Right now, we do not have an online master’s in counseling, you never know what could happen over the next couple years, we are always adding new programs, so right now no one has said, “Yes, we’re adding that,” however, you just never know what can happen over the next couple years. Great question.

Karen Tucci: Okay. We have another really good question about class. Can you just, thank you, slide that up? “For the online courses, I have registered so far, to attend them do I need to be available during the exact time for each classes, or I can go through them at any time despite the different class times for each course?” If you are taking online courses, the course work is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and there is no time that you have to log in. The only thing you have to obviously log in is make sure that you’re completing your assignments in a timely manner, but if you are in class online there is absolutely no time that you have to log in for class. That’s the beauty of this. You can work full-time, you can be on vacation, when your kids go to bed you can log on, you can work on it during lunch when you’re at work, so there is no time that you have to log in.

Karen Tucci: “Are you able to do dual undergraduate degrees?” The answer to that is, no, you are not. We do not do that here at Maryville University. You need to pick one, or pick another, but you can’t two at the same time. One of the questions here, which is a great question is, “How is Canvas used?” That’s the program that we will provide to you via the internet basically that you can use to log into your classes. It is a great tool, it’s very user friendly. When you become a student here, you will also be given an orientation on Canvas, so once you become a student, your enrollment advisor is going to set you up with a webinar on how to use Canvas, but it is very user friendly. We’ve been told that, so it’s going to be a great tool when you’re in class. I hope that helps.

Sarah Frost: That’s great, Karen. Thank you. I know we obviously had the audience participate and ask a lot of questions, I wanted to give attendees a few more minutes to ask any additional questions on the enrollment process, or how to apply to Maryville. We’ll be back in just a quick moment … Hey, everyone, thank you, again. We did have a few more questions come in, and I’ll turn it back over to Karen.

Karen Tucci: Sure.

Sarah Frost: Thank you.

Karen Tucci: This question, “I just went to my class schedule, and I’m not seeing anything about which books I need for both my classes under the section information. Am I looking in the wrong place, or is the info just not available yet?” First of all, great work getting exactly where you need to be for your first class, the books will be most likely published approximately four weeks ahead of class, so class doesn’t start until August 27th, so we do have a little bit of time for that, so I would highly recommend checking back every couple days or so, because it will be populated. Great question.

Sarah Frost: Yeah. Absolutely. We’d like to thank all of you for attending our Why Maryville Online Webinar this evening. Just a friendly reminder we do have our online application, a link to schedule an appointment with an enrollment advisor, as well as our application checklist on the left on your screen in the resource list. Again, thank you so much for attending, and have a great evening …