COVER STORY
Ashley Yezuita (L) and Cali Tran at the Philadelphia campus.
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ince it opened in 2013, the WCU in Philadelphia campus—in the heart of Center City at 701 Market Street — has also fueled graduate student growth and contributed significantly to diversifying the graduate student body in many program areas. This fall, 155 graduate students were enrolled there in three master’s programs. The majority were the 144 Master of Social Work (MSW) students who, for the first time, eclipsed the MSW main campus enrollment (137). Echoing Saurennann, Joseph H. Santivasci, associate vice president and director of the Philadelphia campus, cites program quality, affordability (10% Philadelphia campus tuition discount), and convenience. “Most of our students are adult learners who work long days in and around the city and cannot commute to the main campus,” he says. “Most of our classes are held late afternoon or in the evening.” Says Cali Tran, a graduate assistant in the campus’ Student Success Center who will earn her MSW degree this spring. “Our professors really want the best for us and are very accommodating. They understand we all have outside responsibilities that aren’t so prevalent with undergraduates.” Ash Yezuita, a third-grade math teacher at Smedley Elementary School in Philadelphia’s Frankford neighborhood, is in the first Philadelphia cohort of the M.S. in Transformative Education and Social Change program, which launched last fall. “It appeals to me because it emphasizes that a child’s whole experience — in school and out — is important,” says Yezuita. “Also, being around really smart people is important, and this program has a lot of smart people, both professors and students.”
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