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Seattle U Degree Blends Liberal Arts and Digital Skills

Chris Joseph Kalinko
/
Seattle University
Kimberly McBain recieves her certificate in web development at Seattle University.

Adults who are thinking about going back to college have more to ponder than whether the time and money they’ve already invested will count toward a degree today.  They also need to get ready for the 21st-century workplace.

One thing that holds people back from completing their degrees is wondering whether their liberal arts credits are relevant in today’s job market — where the higher paid positions are in high-tech.

Even outside of technology, jobs descriptions, like those for administrative assistants, require basic web skills. According to Trish Thomas Henley, associate dean at Seattle University’s School of New and Continuing Studies, employers still value the critical thinking skills you get with a humanities degree, but you need to build on that.

“When you do research into the barriers for people who have some college education, but not a degree, it is in fact the lack of advanced digital skills that is holding them back, along with not having their bachelor’s degree,” said Henley.

Henley says Seattle University is trying to bridge the gap by offering a digital cultures degree. It embraces liberal arts, pairs it with digital skills and rolls it into one package. The degree costs about half of what a traditional degree costs and most previous college credits transfer over.

For adults looking to finish their degree, the aim is to get it done without having to completely reinvent yourself.