Olivet Nazarene U Offers Tuition-Free Online General Ed Courses for Adult Learners

A new program out of Olivet Nazarene University's School of Graduate and Continuing Studies is using an online, asynchronous flipped model to provide adult students a pathway to earn a bachelor's degree. The Your Way program offers tuition-free general education courses in which students access course material independently, and then participate in an online community with classmates and faculty to "expand their knowledge and deepen understanding," the university explained in a news announcement.

"Through Your Way, general education courses are tuition-free so that adult students from across the nation have equitable access to college," said Ryan Spittal, vice president for Olivet's ONU Global division, in a statement. "Since every student has to take general education courses before taking the courses specific to their degree program, this tuition-free general education initiative flattens barriers and bends the cost curve, allowing students to take courses with no up-front costs."

Built on Salesforce's Trailhead online learning platform, Your Way courses are designed in small, "bite-sized" chunks along with knowledge-check assessments, student engagement activities and gamification badges. Students can access their courses from anywhere, any time, and on any device. Olivet has also created a digital campus on Salesforce's Experience Cloud platform, where students can enter their virtual classroom, collaborate with peers, get help from advisers and other staff, and more.  

"With 15 years in the online market, Olivet knows that compelling content is important, but we feel that facilitating connection in an online environment is key to effective education," continued Spittal. "It is more important now than ever before, especially in this social-distancing culture, to provide a quality education and moment-making connections in an online experience that reflects our supportive on-campus ethos."

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • an online form with checkboxes, a shield icon for security, and a lock symbol for privacy, set against a clean, monochromatic background

    Educause HECVAT Vendor Assessment Tool Gets an Upgrade

    Educause has announced HECVAT 4, the latest update to its Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit.

  • illustration of a football stadium with helmet on the left and laptop with ed tech icons on the right

    The 2025 NFL Draft and Ed Tech Selection: A Strategic Parallel

    In the fast-evolving landscape of collegiate football, the NFL, and higher education, one might not immediately draw connections between the 2025 NFL Draft and the selection of proper educational technology for a college campus. However, upon closer examination, both processes share striking similarities: a rigorous assessment of needs, long-term strategic impact, talent or tool evaluation, financial considerations, and adaptability to a dynamic future.

  • university building surrounded by icons for AI, checklists, and data governance

    Improving AI Governance for Stronger University Compliance and Innovation

    AI can generate valuable insights for higher education institutions and it can be used to enhance the teaching process itself. The caveat is that this can only be achieved when universities adopt a strategic and proactive set of data and process management policies for their use of AI.

  • DeepSeek on AWS

    AWS Offers DeepSeek-R1 as Fully Managed Serverless Model, Recommends Guardrails

    Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the availability of DeepSeek-R1 as a fully managed serverless AI model, enabling developers to build and deploy it without having to manage the underlying infrastructure.