|
April 12, 2019 University of Arizona Online to Partner with Guild Education |
|
TUCSON, Ariz. — The University of Arizona announced that students who are supported through Guild Education can now earn a degree through Arizona Online. In joining with Guild, the UA will have the opportunity to grow its student body with Guild's students from Fortune 1000 employers such as The Walt Disney Company, Discover Financial, Lowe's, and Chipotle. "We're thrilled to have the opportunity to bring so many potential online learners into the Wildcat family," saidVincent Del Casino, vice president and interim senior vice provost for academic initiatives and student success at the UA. "Our mission is to deliver the UA's world-class higher education programs to ambitious working adults across the globe in a flexible, engaging and highly effective way." The partnership expands the programs that these companies can provide to their employees to include UA bachelor's degrees within the Eller College of Management, the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, among others. Through Guild's corporate partners, more than three million adults will have access to a debt-free degree. "The addition of the University of Arizona to our academic network is a huge win for our students and our employers," said Rachel Carlson, CEO and co-founder of Guild Education. "The UA has a proven record of providing high-quality online degrees focused on advancing the education and careers of working adults." These programs will be available to employees of Guild's network of companies across the nation. Arizona Online has existing corporate partnerships with a number of national employers, such as GEICO, Caterpillar Inc., Cox Communications and GameStop, to invest in their talent. Arizona Online currently offers 32 undergraduate majors, along with 31 graduate-level majors, 32 graduate certificates and nine doctoral degree programs. "Guild's work with partner companies' tuition-assistance platforms allows Arizona Online to be a more engaged, effective education partner and creates greater degree-attainment opportunities for a broader base of working adults," said UA Executive Director of Arizona Online Corporate Initiative Kara Aquilano Forney. "The more school choices our employees have to further their education, the more successful our tuition assistance program is," said Jon Kaplan, vice president of learning and development at Discover. "We are pleased to see Guild growing their academic network with the University of Arizona, a top-ranked school for online learners." In its fourth year of operation and third year of rankings eligibility, Arizona Online finished tied at No. 29 out of 348 programs in the U.S. News & World Report 2019 Best Online Bachelor's Programs rankings. This represents a 27-spot jump from last year's rankings and a 52-spot increase from the UA's inaugural appearance in 2017. ### |
|
Media contacts: Kara Aquilano Forney |
| Established in 1885, the University of Arizona, the state's super land-grant university with two medical schools, produces graduates who are real-world ready through its 100% Engagement initiative. Recognized as a global leader and ranked 16th for the employability of its graduates, the UA is also a leader in research, bringing more than $606 million in research investment each year, and ranking 21st among all public universities. The UA is advancing the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships, and is a member of the Association of American Universities, the 62 leading public and private research universities. It benefits the state with an estimated economic impact of $8.3 billion annually. |
