NEW ORLEANS – Delgado Community College has partnered with Reach University to offer Delgado graduates a “job-embedded pathway” to a bachelor’s degree and career in education. Founded in 2006 in California, Reach combines online classes with on-the-job learning experiences.
25 Delgado degrees are eligible to transfer credits into Reach University’s job-embedded liberal studies degree program. All degree seekers will work as an employee for an area school while completing their B.A., and they will have the option to pursue a teaching credential at the end of their degree experience.
“For over 100 years, Delgado has combined academic excellence with workforce readiness to support every learner in achieving their career and personal aspirations,” said Dr. Larissa Littleton-Steib, the school’s chancellor. “For so many of our students, those aspirations involve being the first in their family to complete a bachelor’s degree. Delgado’s partnership with Reach University fully removes the hurdles associated in transferring to a four-year degree granting institution, while providing the added bonus of addressing talent shortages and boosting career exposure in our local schools.”
Each program participant will pursue a Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies, with a concentration in education science. To be eligible for the program, associate holders must be employed in a local school and have access to an instructional work setting (i.e., a place where the candidate can observe or participate in mentoring, teaching, tutoring, coaching, etc.) for approximately 15 hours a week. Degree seekers will have the opportunity to get paid throughout the duration of their bachelor’s program.
“A challenge in attracting top talent to Jefferson Parish Schools is overcoming the perception of what it’s like to be a teacher,” said Donna Joseph, chief human resources officer at Jefferson Parish Schools. “This on-the-job program will provide majors across arts and sciences an up-close understanding of the privilege and reward of being an educator. We are confident that not only will this program create a new talent pipeline for our schools, but will also support more adults in becoming degree-holding leaders in the community.”
This “Associate to Bachelor’s Degree Transfer Pathway” marks Reach’s fourth community college articulation pathway, and its first in Louisiana.
Reach is a regionally accredited, nonprofit university focused on low-income, urban and rural regions. It operates in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
