North Central offers a variety of graduate programs

Written by Monica Degenhardt

Graduate school is an option that many college graduates consider either immediately after receiving their undergraduate degree or many years after. There are many options to choose from; some programs are better than others but they all allow a person to continue learning in a specific area of study.

Thus, North Central College (NCC) in Naperville, IL has been expanding its master’s programs over the past number of years. There are currently a total of seven programs offered that focus on a liberal arts background.

For instance, the seven programs at NCC consist of: Business Administration, International Business Administration, Education, Leadership Studies, Liberal Studies, Management Information Systems as well as Web and Internet Applications. All classes are offered at night to allow graduate students time during the day to work at their company or office.

Notably, Wendy Pochocki, Director of Graduate Admission at NCC says that graduate students enjoy the trimester schedule and, “variety of degrees offered which fulfill a range of needs”. She also mentions that NCC is an option for individuals interested in a small school with small class sizes and individual attention from faculty and staff members.

Furthermore, Yolanda Jamnik, Assistant Director of Graduate Admission at NCC adds that the location can draw community members in, especially with some of the specific programs offered. She adds that the Master of Leadership Studies sparks additional interest from graduate students because it is not a typical program with four concentrations offered.

Interestingly, Jamnik believes that graduate students still need assistance in how to be successful and that they still have needs. She mentioned how there is an overall transition shift in a graduate student’s life with work and possibly taking care of a family. These students must prioritize their commitments and learn how to balance their schedule.

In addition, Jennifer McKinney, Assistant Director of Admission, recently completed her Master’s degree from NCC in Business Administration with a concentration in management. She had a very positive experience and greatly enjoyed her time while in the program.

In fact, during her time as a graduate student, McKinney had the opportunity to have three adjunct professors who she said, “brought some outside experience who had been consultants or worked as professionals in their field which brought some really neat and great experiences to the classroom”.

Not to mention, Pochocki said that most graduate students finish their degrees at NCC within three to four years, on average. However, there is an additional opportunity during the summer for graduate students to take classes which would then put them on a year-round track.

McKinney summed up her graduate experience at NCC best by, “… having the opportunity to apply what I was learning (in her graduate courses) to my job but then also apply her job to my learning”. She recommends students having a couple of years of experience first just for the benefit of being able to relate information to a job and vice versa. McKinney can really see this now and believes she had a different experience because of it.