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UWin Web site helps adults connect to undergraduate degrees
A Web site launched this spring helps new and continuing adult students connect with the University of Wisconsin in a whole new way.
Increasing access to a bachelor's degree
The UWin Web site is part of the Adult Student Initiative (ASI), an effort by the UW Colleges and UW-Extension to increase the number of Wisconsin residents with an undergraduate degree by making programs and services throughout the UW System more accessible to adults.
Helpful resources
UWin provides adults with the information they need to make a decision about starting, continuing or completing a bachelor's degree. Resources on the site include:
- contact an advisor
- interactive tools, such as a calculator for comparing the costs of taking courses online versus face-to-face
- databases for searching for degrees and courses
The UWin Web site was designed and is maintained by the UW-Extension Continuing Education, Outreach and E-Learning division.
Nontraditional student Crystal Fey earned her bachelor's degree from UW-Madison in December. Photo by Matt Wehrli, Continuing Education, Outreach and E-Learning
Designed for nontraditional students
UWin is designed specifically for adults ages 25 to 45, whose needs are different than traditional 18-to-22-year-old students.
"This population, commonly referred to as Generations X and Y, is generally place bound and characterized as being very comfortable using technology," says Mary Crave, ASI project manager. "Therefore, we designed the UWin Web site to be interactive and easy to navigate, with information that was previously available in many different places now located centrally."
A degree leads to a job
A recent UW-Extension study indicates there are 60,000 Gen X/Gen Y adults statewide who are very interested in enrolling in a degree program.
UWin—and ASI in general—is designed for students like Crystal Fey, who just completed her bachelor's degree in December 2006. "I wondered if I would be able to afford the time and money to attend classes long enough to complete my degree," Fey says. "Two years went by quickly as I worked and attended UW-Madison part time. I graduated just in time to land a job I really wanted that required a bachelor's degree!"
Approximately 400 responses
Since the UWin Web site became public on Feb.1, more than 10,000 prospective students have received personalized letters from UW System President Kevin Reilly inviting them to visit the site and contact an educational advisor for more information. The first two months the Web site was live approximately 400 individuals visited the site or contacted an advisor through e-mail or phone.
For more information:
uwin@learn.uwsa.edu
(866) 505-UWIN (8946) (toll free)
https://uwin.wisconsin.edu
By Amy Pikalek, communications manager, Continuing Education, Outreach and E-Learning, UW-Extension