黑料门

Throughout a 20-year career as a paralegal, Michelle Cygan (BA 鈥�18) always had it in the back of her mind that she wanted to go back to school for a bachelor鈥檚 degree. But her associate鈥檚 degree had been enough to get by, and she wasn鈥檛 quite sure how she would make it work. Cygan was already juggling being a busy single mom with two sons, and she was hesitant about taking on student debt of her own while saving for her sons鈥� college education. 

But when she found Loyola鈥檚 , Cygan realized that getting her degree was a real possiblity. As Loyola鈥檚 home for adult learners, SCPS offers bachelor鈥檚 degrees and certificate programs for working adults, preparing them for today鈥檚 dynamic workplace. When Cygan started researching options for completing her bachelor鈥檚 degree, SCPS stood out for making education both accessible and affordable, and its commitment to a transformative experience for its students. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 so many colleges and options out there, but when I think of Loyola, I think of excellence, of prestige. My late grandma had some health issues and her physician was at Loyola, so I knew their reputation and quality,鈥� Cygan says. 鈥淎nd then after researching, Loyola鈥檚 flexibility and affordability made it a no-brainer [to choose SCPS]. I earned my associate鈥檚 degree from a respected university in Chicago, and that was one of the schools that I looked at to further my education, and they were just not as flexible as Loyola. In fact, at Loyola, I was able to transfer the maximum amount of credits.鈥� 

"There鈥檚 so many colleges and options out there, but when I think of Loyola, I think of excellence, of prestige."

- Michelle Cygan (BA 鈥�18)

Cygan鈥檚 employer, construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, has a program that offers tuition assistance to employees, but 黑料门was not initially on their list of approved schools. Cygan was so confident that it was the place for her that she worked with her manager to get 黑料门added to the tuition assistance program. Loyola鈥檚 SCPS Fellows Program is designed to support these company tuition assistance programs, and provides grants that match employer contributions to tuition. Students are nominated for the fellows program by their employer, which is why it was essential for Cygan to get 黑料门onto Caterpillar鈥檚 list of partner schools. 

鈥淭he financial burden of paying for college was intimidating and worrisome. My son was going to graduate from high school the year after I would graduate from Loyola, and normally, as a parent, you鈥檇 be thinking about saving for college for him,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he fellowship made college manageable. I think it would have prolonged [my studies] if I didn鈥檛 have it. And at the end, graduating debt-free, it made all the difference.鈥� 

Cygan started her degree in 2015, and three years later she graduated with a bachelor of arts in management. Since then, she鈥檚 earned a promotion and taken advantage of new opportunities at the office, like helping with the company鈥檚 website redesign and offering input on a department restructuring鈥攁ll based on skills she gained from communications and human resources classes at Loyola. Cygan鈥檚 goal was to better contribute at the office and advance her own career opportunities鈥攁nd she was able to do it all without incurring crippling student debt thanks to the supportive environment at SCPS. 

Supporting adult learners 

SCPS caters to adult learners with evening, weekend, and applicable online courses, and scholarship and financial aid packages. SCPS students鈥攎any of whom work full time and have children鈥攄on鈥檛 have to rearrange their lives or finances to get their degree. And for students like Cygan, who come in with associate鈥檚 degrees or other previous education, SCPS works with students to transfer as much credit as possible, and also offers what they call a prior learning assessment, which factors in work experience and applies it to certain courses for additional credit.  

SCPS student Adrian De La Cruz also knows a thing or two about juggling a busy schedule. He balances classes with his full-time job at NEC Display Solutions and family life with his wife and daughter, who is almost two. He works in customer service at NEC, which provides display screens for airports, movie theaters, and the like worldwide. De La Cruz is an operations manager for the Latin American region, but has his eye on a CEO role in the business world in the future. 

鈥淚 remember looking at a human resources org chart in one of my classes and seeing the progression of roles up to CEO, and joking to my wife that I was only a few levels away,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ow, that seems very real to me; it鈥檚 very achievable. I don鈥檛 fear it and understand well what it takes to be able to succeed in a CEO role, based on the education that I have had at Loyola. I know my managers are looking at me and saying, 鈥楾his guy is at a different level.鈥欌�� 

鈥淲hat we do for our students really does answer that call that the university has for supporting social justice, precisely because so many of our students are ones that don鈥檛 have the usual advantages,鈥�

-Jeanne Widen, interim dean of SCPS

De La Cruz, who will graduate with a BA in management in May 2020, also volunteers as an SCPS ambassador, acting as a mentor to first-year students. He recently received the 黑料门President鈥檚 Medallion and the , both in recognition of his personal and professional accomplishments while at Loyola. 

奥丑补迟鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;苍别虫迟&苍产蝉辫;

Already a nationwide leader in online education, SCPS has been ranked eighth nationwide among online bachelor鈥檚 degree programs by U.S. News and World Report. Looking ahead, there are plans to develop more technology programs, as well as continue to research and offer a more real-world, applicable curriculum. Non-credit programming, such as bootcamps, is also in the works for people who may not want to enroll in a degree program but still need to bolster their skills. 

鈥淲hat we do for our students really does answer that call that the university has for supporting social justice, precisely because so many of our students are ones that don鈥檛 have the usual advantages,鈥� says Jeanne Widen, interim dean of the school. 鈥淲e really strive to make it possible for students to be positioned for success鈥攚hether it is a single mother, the students who grow up without financial resources, students who are first generation, students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups鈥攚e transform lives for people for whom higher education is not a given.鈥�