University Center of Lake County would like to welcome it’s twelfth member institution to its family. We are pleased to announce that St. Augustine College, SAC, has joined the ranks of accredited universities in Lake County offering high quality academic programs to its residents. This fall, the Governing Board approved SAC’s Bachelor of Arts in Hospitality Management degree which will be offered partly in person and partly online at the Grayslake campus. This program meets the needs of local residents seeking to finish a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality. Students can transfer into the program no matter if they are finishing an associate degree at a local community college or started elsewhere, took a break, and are now ready to finish what they started. St. Augustine College is known for its passion and dedication to serve the Hispanic community and is recognized as a Hispanic-serving institution. Embedded in their mission is their commitment to uphold this goal, “Our multiculturally supportive and bilingual institution of higher learning is dedicated to strengthening personal identities and reinforcing cultural interaction for Latinos and individuals of diverse groups and faiths.”1 To this end, their curriculum is delivered in both Spanish and English to help individuals “assimilate into the English-speaking culture, feel supported in their growth, and receive an education that properly prepares them for a future career.”1
Another bachelor completion program new to the University Center of Lake County is the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology offered by the University of Illinois Springfield. The Psychology major provides students with the foundational understanding appropriate for many entry-level positions. This fully online program meets the vast needs of students ready to move forward with their career plans in areas such as the helping professions, education, business, health-related fields and other areas of the workforce. Overall, the UIS online bachelor programs rank among the best in the nation. The U.S. News & World Report, states, 2“The 2022 rankings put UIS among the top 10 percent of best online bachelor’s degree programs in the United States…The UIS online bachelor’s degree in psychology was ranked 13th best in the nation out of 55 institutions (up 23 percent from 2021)”. Vickie Cook, acting UIS associate provost for enrollment management and associate vice chancellor for online, professional and engaged learning, adds, 2“UIS has a long history of high-quality online programs that dates back over 20 years. We are pleased to have our programs recognized by the U.S. News & World Report rankings,”. At University Center, UIS offers twenty-eight online majors found among bachelor completion, graduate certificates, teacher endorsements, and full master’s degrees.
University Center of Lake County was created in response to Lake County residents’ concerns of the lack of academic options to continue their education locally. As a result, in 1998 University Center of Lake County opened its doors to the community and in 2005 construction was completed on the new building in Grayslake. The University Center is a non-for-profit organization, which supports the work of twelve universities committed to serving Lake County residents. Want to learn more? Visit our website at ucenter.org.
Sources:
1 St. Augustine College, (n.d.). About page. https://www.staugustine.edu/about/.
2 Wood, B. (2022 January 25). U.S. News & World Report ranks UIS online bachelor’s degree programs among the best in the country. https://www.uis.edu/news/us-news-world-report-ranks-uis-online-bachelors-degree-programs-among-best-country.