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Innovative Program Ideal For Graduating Homeschoolers: by Michael Leppert High school juniors or seniors who are looking for an excellent online academic opportunity for their Freshman year of college will find it with Trinity Western's FOCUS program for freshmen. The program is intended to allow freshmen to engage in distance learning their first year and then either transfer those first year credits to another university or attend TWU on campus the second year. The FOCUS program also appeals to those who missed the deadline to register in the regular semester or even working adults who wish to earn a degree. For the high school student, this is an innovative plan which makes the transition from high school to college work a bit less stressful for the student, since it does not include relocating as well. By the time the student comes to Trinity Western's campus in beautiful British Columbia, (http://www.hellobc.com/en-CA/RegionsCities/VancouverCoastandMountains.htm) s/he has already completed a year of college work and can make the full transition comfortably. For those who wish to transfer to another school after the first year, TWU is fully accredited by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) and is recognized by the US Department of Education. This means that your first-year credits transfer completely and if you achieve a full degree from TWU, it will be accepted and recognized everywhere in the world. An interesting feature of the TWU FOCUS program is that students stay together in a group (called a cohort) for the complete year. The cohort can consist of up to 25 students and they work together in projects and experience their freshman year together. This builds a powerful sense of community and group-belonging. The schedule offered in the FOCUS program currently includes first-year or introductory Writing, Psychology, Business, Sociology, Communication, Logic and Critical Thinking and Philosophy and all prepare the student to continue on, building upon the general education courses studied online. Since homeschoolers are typically Internet savvy and self-motivated, the FOCUS online program is a perfect fit. Another plus is that it offers a full year of transferable university credits with only 25-30 hours of course work each week. Homeschoolers who are accustomed to not wasting their time and thereby enjoy intensified study, find this a very positive feature of the FOCUS program. To accomplish the intensified study schedule, the FOCUS courses are offered two-at-a-time for a seven-week duration. This is approximately half of the length of time of the usual university semester. Limiting the course-load to only two per seven weeks allows the student to concentrate his/her attention fully on each subject. It also allows the student to enjoy a "life" outside of studying! All of the online courses are taught by the regular professors of the TWU stand alone university, so the online student experiences being taught by full university professors and working up to those standards. The technical requirements for participation in the FOCUS program are a good computer, reliable Internet access. The student must also have 25-30 hours per week to devote to actual class-work and be accepted into the program, of course. Academic requirements for acceptance into the FOCUS program are a high school level GPA of 2.5 or a 67% (C average). Students over the age of 21 who do not meet this requirement should contact the Program Advisor, Dr. Simon Gibson, toll-free at 866-402-1897 for more information before applying. M.L.■ |
