Saturday, September 1, 2012

Online Education Helps Students

Efforts to increase educational offerings and create more jobs in science-related fields such as engineering may prove beneficial to students and working adults who choose to pursue college degrees at brick-and-mortar or online universities.
Due to shortages of professionals in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, President Obama recently revealed a plan to increase education in these subjects, PC Magazine reports.
Through $260 million in funding that will be provided by private industry, the government hopes to increase STEM literacy and critical thinking, improve the quality of math and science education as well as expand learning and career opportunities in these industries.
Expansions in this sector are already occurring in several institutions of higher learning, such as the University of Illinois. The school's Department of Finance in its College of Business as well as the Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering in its College of Engineer have announced they will begin offering a new master's degree program in financial engineering in the fall semester of next year, the Daily Illini reports.
Coursework in the program, which is designed to be completed over three semesters, will cover finance, mathematics and computer programming. The curriculum is intended to prepare students for careers in energy, commodities trading, start-ups, ventures, risk management, financial services, banking, wealth and asset management, insurance, government agencies, trading companies, hedge funds, information technology and consulting.
Organizations and colleges nationwide are also working to help nontraditional students, including working adults and parents, pursue similar engineering degrees in their free time. For example, Wish Book readers and Foothill College's Foothill-De Anza Foundation have established a scholarship fund that provides computers to students who are single parents, the Mercury News reports.
To date, the partnership has donated $85,000 in laptops, word processing and spreadsheet software, printers and monitors to single-parent families. Linette Fuerst, an engineering student at the college who benefitted from the program, told the media outlet she uses her laptop to turn in papers and take online tests. Now, she spends less time in the classroom and can be at home with her son.

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