BAKER COLLEGE

Baker Online
Flint, Michigan

Baker College, founded in the true American tradition as a small business college in 1911, is a private, nonprofit, accredited, coeducational institution. The College has more than a dozen campuses and branch locations in the Midwest and has a total enrollment of more than 31,500 students. The College is uniquely designed for one purpose: to provide high-quality higher education that enables graduates to be successful throughout their challenging and rewarding careers. The College offers diploma, certificate, and associate, bachelor's, and master's degree programs in the fields of business, technical, and health service fields. Total commitment to the students' employment success in uniquely evident in all aspects of the College's operations.

Baker College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Baker College is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.

Distance Learning Program

Baker Online offers the convenience of classroom accessibility 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from virtually anywhere in the world. It is not a self-paced program. Courses begin and end on specific dates and classwork is assigned deadlines, but as long as students have Internet access, they have access to their courses.

Delivery Media

Students are required to have a computer with the following minimum requirements: a Pentium III or higher system, Windows XP Professional or higher, a 56K (minimum) modem, Internet Explorer 5.5 or Netscape 4.7 or higher (AOL is not compatible), and Microsoft Office XP Professional. A CD-ROM drive and an Internet service provider are required. The virtual classroom is the common meeting area for all students taking classes online. Communication is accomplished by sending messages back and forth from the student's computer to the classroom computer. Each classroom has a unique name, and only students taking that class have access to the virtual classroom. This ensures privacy for all students.

Programs of Study

Baker Online offers the delivery of high-quality, respected courses and programs that enable a student to earn an associate, bachelor's, or master's degree at home, on the road, or anywhere in the world.

The Associate of Business Administration degree has been designed specifically for the online college environment, where students have a variety of choices in filling out the degree plan. The curriculum gives students a good background of business facts and knowledge upon which to build or enhance a career in business.

The Bachelor of Business Administration degree is a program designed for the working professional that combines core course work with independent research and experiential credit to provide a contemporary business degree for today's business environment. Each core course contains focused study in the content area accompanied by independent research.

The Master of Business Administration degree program seeks to combine the best of conventional academic training with the best of field-based learning. Most typical business disciplines are represented in the curriculum because the College believes that a successful manager must be conversant with different aspects of running any of today's organizations or companies. Students may also elect to focus their studies in one of the following areas: computer information systems, health-care management, human resource management, industrial management, integrated health care, international business, leadership studies, or marketing.

Special Programs

Baker Online offers undergraduate courses at all levels to support all of the campuses and their program offerings as a convenience for students who may have trouble commuting to a campus. Baker Online publishes a listing each quarter showing which classes will be offered.

Student Services

Every Baker College student is assigned an e-mail account on the BakerNet system. Through this system, students can communicate with each other and their instructors and with members of the graduate school staff. Students may also use their accounts to access the World Wide Web. They also have access to the Baker College Library System and FALCON, a consortium of libraries that supports an online catalog database of more than 500,000 holdings. Students also have access to InfoTrac periodical indexing databases, the UMI/ProQuest General Periodicals On-Disc full-article imaging station, Books-in-Print with Reviews, and all available Internet and World Wide Web resources.

Baker College offers a renowned Lifetime Employment Service, with access to thousands of career opportunities and employment databases, to all students. This service can be used for the rest of one's life.

Credit Options

Baker College recognizes the expediency of understandable and universally accepted standards related to transfer of academic credit. The College follows the Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers Official Policies and recognizes the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) or other standardized tests.

Faculty

The focus of Baker's faculty is somewhat different from that of traditional universities. Instead of placing an emphasis on empirical research, Baker values practitioner-oriented education. Faculty members remain continually active in their professions by consulting, conducting seminars, running their own businesses, writing, volunteering in their communities, and working with other organizations. The faculty-student ratio in distance education is 1:12.

Admission

Graduate program candidates must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and a 2.5 or better GPA in their undergraduate work, be able to display appropriate communication skills, submit three letters of reference, submit a current resume, and have completed no less than three years of full-time work. Undergraduates must have graduated from high school, completed a GED program, or passed an Ability to Benefit assessment before entering.

Tuition and Fees

Undergraduate tuition for the 2005–06 school year was $175 per credit hour. Graduate tuition was $285 per credit hour. The cost of books ranged from $150 to $200 per quarter.

Financial Aid

Students who are accepted into Baker College may be considered for several forms of state, federal, and institutional financial aid. Students are requested to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and return it directly to the College.

Applying

Baker College uses a rolling admission process, so there are no deadlines for applications. Students are allowed to begin in any quarter. Once the Admissions Committee receives an application, applicants usually receive a decision in approximately four weeks. Once accepted, students participate in a three-week online orientation. They are not required to visit a campus at any time.

CONTACT

Chuck J. Gurden
Vice President for Admissions
Center for Graduate Studies
Baker Online
1116 West Bristol Road
Flint, Michigan 48507-9843
Phone: 810-766-4390 800-469-3165 (toll-free)
Fax: 810-766-4399
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.bakercollegeonline.com