challenged
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 METRO 29
Advertising Feature
ARDEN UNIVERSITY
Education 2016
Time efficient: Arden students can build careers while doing their degrees
UNIVERSITIES
CHALLENGED
High fees... mounting debts – that’s what traditional universities offer – Arden offers an alternative
U
NIVERSITY leavers in England are officially the most indebted in the world. For their £9,000 a year in tuition fees they may benefit from just 12 hours a week of ‘contact’ time with their lecturers. Add to that the soaring cost of accommodation – more than £5,000 a year, on average, according to the National Union of Students – and many are not only leaving university saddled with £50,000 of debts, they are questioning whether a degree is worth it. It is also hard to earn while you learn at universities which spread teaching over the whole week, giving students plenty of free time, but not free days. But it does not have to be this way. Arden University, the first specialist distance – or online – university to be launched since the Open University was established in 1969, is making a university education more accessible,
engaging and beneficial. Instead of investing in buildings, Arden has invested in pioneering teaching and technology to break down the barriers to a degree or postgraduate qualification. Courses are available regardless of constraints such as location, cost, age, work, time and family commitments. This also makes a degree much more affordable – £18,000 for the whole degree with a mixture of online learning and two days a week on campus, which is fundable in the usual way through Student Loans. For parttime distance learners, the fees are just £13,500 for the whole degree. If you think that a lowercost degree means it is less valuable, think again. Students still benefit from one-to-one support from assigned tutors with contact via email and Skype – and if they opt for blended learning they can also go to ‘uni’ two days a week for classroom-
based learning, face-to-face seminars and collaborative working on team projects at the Arden Study Centre in Ealing. Dr Philip Hallam, ViceChancellor and CEO of Arden University, says: ‘Students are increasingly questioning the value-formoney of a degree particularly in light of soaring student debts. ‘You do not have to be at uni all week to benefit from the same learning experience. ‘So as a modern university for a modern world, we do not expect students to sit in lectures passively learning by taking notes. ‘Instead Arden University students learn online and then apply what they have learned through problembased activities and this develops them into solutionoriented individuals. ‘The other advantage of learning this way is that most of our students are already in employment and building a career. So we do not focus on getting them a job, rather helping them to progress professionally.’ Find out more at arden.ac.uk or call 020 3797 3292
WHAT’S ON OFFER The degrees awarded by Arden are highly vocational and designed to equip students with the transferable skills needed in today’s workplace. Many of the degree courses – which include business, marketing, project
management, social care and computing – are endorsed by professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing. And Arden is one of only five institutions in the UK to offer an online Qualifying Law Degree.
THE ARDEN DIFFERENCE Richard Wing, a 40year-old father from South Devon is studying for a Qualifying Law Degree at Arden. He has wanted to be a solicitor ‘for a long time’ and online learning is the best route to a degree. ‘I couldn’t afford to give up my work; by studying online I can work full-time and do a full time degree,’ he says. ‘So I work from 8am to 2pm on my business and then from 2pm to 9pm on my degree and have time for my family too. ‘My nearest university is an hour’s drive away, so the commute would mean I wouldn’t be able to work or see my family as well as attending lectures and studying. ‘I have already secured a volunteer internship with a local law firm and hope to become specialised in commercial and property law, which is something that really interests me.’
Advertising Feature
ARDEN UNIVERSITY
Education 2016
Time efficient: Arden students can build careers while doing their degrees
UNIVERSITIES
CHALLENGED
High fees... mounting debts – that’s what traditional universities offer – Arden offers an alternative
U
NIVERSITY leavers in England are officially the most indebted in the world. For their £9,000 a year in tuition fees they may benefit from just 12 hours a week of ‘contact’ time with their lecturers. Add to that the soaring cost of accommodation – more than £5,000 a year, on average, according to the National Union of Students – and many are not only leaving university saddled with £50,000 of debts, they are questioning whether a degree is worth it. It is also hard to earn while you learn at universities which spread teaching over the whole week, giving students plenty of free time, but not free days. But it does not have to be this way. Arden University, the first specialist distance – or online – university to be launched since the Open University was established in 1969, is making a university education more accessible,
engaging and beneficial. Instead of investing in buildings, Arden has invested in pioneering teaching and technology to break down the barriers to a degree or postgraduate qualification. Courses are available regardless of constraints such as location, cost, age, work, time and family commitments. This also makes a degree much more affordable – £18,000 for the whole degree with a mixture of online learning and two days a week on campus, which is fundable in the usual way through Student Loans. For parttime distance learners, the fees are just £13,500 for the whole degree. If you think that a lowercost degree means it is less valuable, think again. Students still benefit from one-to-one support from assigned tutors with contact via email and Skype – and if they opt for blended learning they can also go to ‘uni’ two days a week for classroom-
based learning, face-to-face seminars and collaborative working on team projects at the Arden Study Centre in Ealing. Dr Philip Hallam, ViceChancellor and CEO of Arden University, says: ‘Students are increasingly questioning the value-formoney of a degree particularly in light of soaring student debts. ‘You do not have to be at uni all week to benefit from the same learning experience. ‘So as a modern university for a modern world, we do not expect students to sit in lectures passively learning by taking notes. ‘Instead Arden University students learn online and then apply what they have learned through problembased activities and this develops them into solutionoriented individuals. ‘The other advantage of learning this way is that most of our students are already in employment and building a career. So we do not focus on getting them a job, rather helping them to progress professionally.’ Find out more at arden.ac.uk or call 020 3797 3292
WHAT’S ON OFFER The degrees awarded by Arden are highly vocational and designed to equip students with the transferable skills needed in today’s workplace. Many of the degree courses – which include business, marketing, project
management, social care and computing – are endorsed by professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing. And Arden is one of only five institutions in the UK to offer an online Qualifying Law Degree.
THE ARDEN DIFFERENCE Richard Wing, a 40year-old father from South Devon is studying for a Qualifying Law Degree at Arden. He has wanted to be a solicitor ‘for a long time’ and online learning is the best route to a degree. ‘I couldn’t afford to give up my work; by studying online I can work full-time and do a full time degree,’ he says. ‘So I work from 8am to 2pm on my business and then from 2pm to 9pm on my degree and have time for my family too. ‘My nearest university is an hour’s drive away, so the commute would mean I wouldn’t be able to work or see my family as well as attending lectures and studying. ‘I have already secured a volunteer internship with a local law firm and hope to become specialised in commercial and property law, which is something that really interests me.’
