Accelerated Online Program

By Emily Peterson

For more than 130 years, students have come to Snow College to receive a unique, high-quality educational experience. A new program, Snow College Accelerated Online, aims to give any student a Snow College education, anywhere in the world.

This program “was developed to take Snow College quality education to students who typically cannot attend Snow College,” said Melanie Jenkins, interim provost. Anyone can enroll, but marketing efforts are currently focused on pre-college students, nontraditional students, and students in foreign countries. The program began on May 1, and 30 students were enrolled for the summer.

Snow Accelerated Online is completely different from the traditional online option that has been available at Snow for many years. Both programs will continue to be offered, and each program has its own characteristics.

Traditional online courses are established on a semester schedule, have specified dates for assignments and exams, and are taught by Snow College faculty. Students can achieve a full associate degree through traditional online courses, but Jenkins says that most students take a course or two while also participating in faceto-face instruction.

Accelerated online courses are designed in a way that students can start a course at any time and work at their own pace. They are on a completely separate learning track from traditional (both online and face-to-face) courses; a student cannot be enrolled in traditional courses and Snow Accelerated Online at the same time.

Snow Accelerated Online is a partnership agreement between Snow College and Sundance Education Group, an online education content provider. Sundance builds the courses on its learning management system and is also responsible for marketing. Students will have coaches and mentors to help them through the process. The courses are developed by Snow College faculty.

Over time, administrators hope that this program will be known nationally and internationally for its quality offerings. “Snow College has been recognized for its success, and through Snow Accelerated Online, we have one more opportunity to support students in their educational pursuits,” Jenkins said.

For more information about Snow Accelerated Online, visit snow.edu/ online/compare.