Saturday Program Students example essay topic

Deciding on a school can be very difficult whether your just finishing high school or looking to complete a degree while in the work place. There are many things to consider such as the cost, transferable credits, degrees offered, class times, and even location. The following discussion will compare the programs offered at Robert Morris University (RMU) to several of the schools in western Pennsylvania. Robert Morris University is a prestigious school located in Moon Township with a satellite campus located in the city of Pittsburgh. The cost per credit is $360 per credit for traditional students and a reduced cost of $335 for ACE students. A full time traditional student can get a discount rate of $6000 per semester.

ACE is a program for Adult Continuing Education. The only drawback to this program is the limited majors offered and the student cannot take daytime classes during the week. The majors offered for ACE students are Information Science, Accounting, and Business Management. The limited amount of classes offered on Saturdays makes it difficult if not impossible to graduate in 4 years with a bachelor's degree. Students are forced into taking night course along with enrolling in summer sessions. Robert Morris is lenient on accepting transfer credits from other credited colleges and technical schools.

The average number of credits accepted from a two-year associate degree is 65. This ranks higher than most of the competing schools in the area. Pittsburgh University (PITT) is known for its excellent engineering and business majors. There is a wide selection of degrees offered at the main campus in Pittsburgh along with its several satellite campuses. The cost per credit is quite different for all of the majors as several lab and other miscellaneous charges are incorporated.

An average cost throughout the four-year term is roughly $550 per credit. Although PITT does not offer exclusive Saturday programs, it allows most all majors to attend classes any day of the week, at all times throughout the day. PITT is very tight when it comes to transferring credits. A typical two-year degree will typically only transfer about 20 credits at Pitt.

Although this prevents many transfer students, Pitt is always running at full capacity every semester. At a low credit transfer rate and high tuition prevents many transfer students from attending. Point Park College (PPC) also offers exclusive Saturday programs. The two majors offered are Information Technology and Management.

Although PPC is a credible college, it is often referred to as a glorified Tech school. The tuition costs are between $300 and $425 per credit. The only campus is located in the heart of Pittsburgh and the school allows the Saturday program students to attend classes whenever they are offered. Point Park is well known for transferring credits from other schools.

A typical two-year degree can allow for almost 80 credits to be transferred in. Duquesne University is well known for their business and computer science programs. The main campus is located in Pittsburgh and they offer classes every day of the week. The majors offered to exclusive Saturday students are Leadership, Communications, IT, Organizational behavior, Computer Science, Accounting, and Marketing. Saturday students are able to take classes during the week at any time. The Tuition costs can range anywhere from $450 through $600 per credit.

Duquesne is open for transferable credits however they must meet strict criteria. A typical two-year degree will usually allow about 45 credits to be transferred in. As you can see, there are unique advantages with the schools discussed above. Although RMU is cheaper than the schools in close competition, it lacks the ability for Saturday students to take classes during the week.

This results in the students waiting up to an additional year to graduate. The limited amount of degrees offered on Saturdays turns many students onto other schools. If more classes and degrees were offered on Saturdays, RMU would be in a position to take over the interest of several new students that are comparing schools.