Today, Amarillo College, Clarendon College and Frank Phillips College announced another partnership with West Texas A&M University to bring the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree to each community they serve.

Using the extensive online course capabilities of WT, each college will establish local cohorts of students pursuing their bachelor degrees and provide support services while earning the degree. Students can take a number of their courses from the community college and WT will provide the remaining credits and grant the degree.

“In a day when a bachelor’s degree is crucial to many of the jobs our communities need, the ability to bring this opportunity to the rural Texas Panhandle is really important,” said Dr. Jud Hicks, president of Frank Phillips College. These sentiments were echoed by Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, president of Amarillo College, “This strengthens Amarillo College’s ability to meet the needs outside the immediate Amarillo area. Our Moore County campus and Hereford campus will now be centers of expanded opportunity for economic development and community strength.”

Tex Buckhaultz, interim president of Clarendon College added, “Now there is an option for adults needing to complete their bachelor’s degree, but who cannot commute to Canyon and yet want more than an online degree alone will offer.”

The BGS program, named for the Bachelor of General Studies degree, will incorporate prior college credit and all credit that is available through the local community college, enabling students the fastest and most cost-effective path to their degree.

Students will begin in a Career Pathways course that will help them identify their post-graduate goals and tailor their remaining courses to meet those goals. At the end of their studies students will take a capstone course that will equip them to use their degree to accomplish their aspirations.

The WT courses will be delivered online, utilizing what US News & World Reports has identified as the top undergraduate online degree in Texas for four straight years. Students can major in General Studies or any one of more than a dozen other undergraduate online degrees.

These students will enjoy regular gatherings, and support from others living in their own communities. The result will be enhanced professional development and personal enrichment that online-only programs cannot deliver.

If interested, please contact your local community college or Patricia McCormick, WT Advisor, at 806-651-5307 or pmccormick@wtamu.edu.

-West Texas A&M University