Education Where You Live and Work Prescott College students complete their coursework wherever they are – in rural communities, small towns and large metropolitan areas – without
interrupting jobs, family life, or connections to their own com-
munities. Students live in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and throughout the West, Pacific Northwest and New England.
Education Unplugged Prescott College offers three low-residency degree tracks: Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Ph.D., and two low-residency Certificate tracks: Post-Bachelor of Arts, and Post-Master of Arts in a wide variety of subject areas – all of which cater to the adult learner who has already accrued valuable life experience. The average age is 35, and women represent 70 percent of total enrollment. The College’s academic programs are “unplugged” from such conventional practices as the departmentalization of knowledge, confining learning to the classroom and textbooks rather than real experience and thinking of college as preparation for life, rather than life itself. Prescott students learn critical thinking and research and how to apply them to real-life problems and their own passions by living them, testing them out in real time. At Prescott College the best learning is collaborative, and the best teaching is individual. Education at Prescott College is grounded in the fundamental idea that the student is in control of her or his learning, and learns best through self-direction and real-life experience. Programs of study at all levels are individualized; no two paths taken by students are identical.
An Emphasis on Teaching Students are empowered at Prescott College because the faculty view students as co-creators of their educational experience rather than as consumers. Like professors at other distinguished colleges and universities, Prescott College faculty author books, publish in prestigious journals, speak at international conferences, and receive competitive grants to support their research and creative work. What distinguishes Prescott College faculty is a commitment to put their students first. While faculty are supported and encouraged to make strides in their fields, they are first and foremost passionate educators, emphasizing teaching over research and other scholarly activities.
Student-Directed Learning Envision your educational goals, design your course of study, and complete coursework under the guidance of an expert. Faculty and advisors work with each student to co-create an individualized concentration within a degree area. This collaborative approach ensures valuable learning for teacher and student alike. Students work at their own pace, driven by their own passions and guided by experts in their chosen fields.
Hybrid Low-Residence/Online Instruction Model Prescott College’s low-residency programs are unlike any other educational experience. We combine self-directed, individually mentored and online distance education with a limited residency requirement. This approach offers you the opportunity to design a meaningful program which is carried out with the support of faculty and mentors (professionals from your home community) who work with you in your chosen field of study. Mentored courses combine tutorial and traditional independent study. Students meet weekly with their mentors, at times and locations that are mutually convenient, to discuss material and review progress. Our individually mentored approach to education results in a Student/Faculty ratio of 1 to 1. Many core courses are also offered online to small student cohorts by Prescott College core faculty.
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