Pierce Partnership Offers 4-Year Program

Working adults studying business at Pierce College can complete their bachelor’s degrees at the Woodland Hills campus through a new program offered by Golden Gate University, college officials announced.

In the past, business majors had to transfer from the two-year community college to a four-year college to complete their bachelor’s degrees, said Mike Cornner, director of Pierce College’s Project for Accelerated College Education (PACE).

“Business is very popular,” Cornner said, estimating that half of the 1,200 students in PACE are majoring in business.

He said the advantage of the partnership with Golden Gate University, a private university based in San Francisco, is that students “get to stay on the Pierce campus, which they are familiar with, and follow the same format they are familiar with.”

That format encompasses four hours of classes one night a week and eight hours every other Saturday, with new classes beginning every nine weeks. The first session is scheduled to begin Aug. 17, said Denise Kraemer, senior enrollment officer at Golden Gate.

The new program is also open to students who are not enrolled at Pierce. Graduates will receive bachelor’s degrees in business administration from Golden Gate University.

Tuition is $2,214 per nine-week session. Financial aid is available, and scholarships will be awarded based on academic achievement and work experience, Kraemer said.

For enrollment or other information, call Kraemer at Golden Gate University, (949) 752-1700, Ext. 24.