While Elizabethtown College does not offer many graduate programs, there are a variety of ways for Etown students to pursue graduate degrees while still maintaining their link to the College. Wednesday, Jan. 25, associate professor of communications and department chair Kelly Poniatowski hosted an informational Skype conference with Katy Storie, who works under the description “International Development for Sport” at Northumbria University in Northeastern England.
Students who attended this session were able to ask questions regarding Northumbria’s graduate programs that Etown students are able to apply to and that may work well with some majors offered at Etown.
Some such graduate degrees included sports management, business administration and communications.
This informational session was especially pointed toward athletes (though all are welcome to apply) because Northumbria encourages their graduate students to continue playing sports while they are there. Student athletes also have the possibility of receiving a small athletic scholarship if they need to continue their athletic career during their graduate schooling.
Most of the graduate programs take about a year to complete, though some extra time may be added if a student needs to pick up a minor or needs to conduct work placement to complete the degree.
This one-year timeline is most feasible if students are taking a full-time load, which wouldn’t be hard for Etown students as they have to be going to school full-time to get a student visa.
Most degrees require at least a 2.8 GPA to apply, though some have slightly higher requirements. Students who have at least a 3.5 GPA, though, are automatically offered a $3,300 scholarship.
Tuition for these graduate programs is only around $16,000 a year, so a scholarship of over $3,000 knocks off a fair amount of the standard tuition. Also, as Storie pointed out, there are no testing requirements for UK master’s programs, so students don’t need to take any GREs to apply.
In addition to tuition, though, there is the price of housing. According to Storie, Northumbria has the cheapest housing in the United Kingdom. She estimated that students spend around $5,000 to $7,000 in housing per year for apartments within walking distance of the campus.
There are a variety of options of housing at the university including suite-like living owned by campus (4 rooms surrounding one shared kitchen), off-campus apartments and some inexpensive privately owned housing options in town and the surrounding area.
Storie emphasized that a big part of what makes Northumbria unique is their nightlife. She stated that they were voted the UK’s favorite city, students’ favorite city and are ranked number 8 in the world for nightlife.
In addition to this, for students more interested in travel, there is an international airport near the university, and students are able to be in Dublin in less than an hour and Paris in under two hours. Flights are also cheap because of the lasting benefits of the European Union on travel costs.
Students who attended the session expressed their concern regarding the transferability of their degree to the US, but Storie reassured them that many of their students have said having an international degree has actually given them an advantage in many fields because students with a European education have different skills to offer than those with an American education.
Though, she did clarify that degrees such as law and nursing don’t translate well, as they require special certifications that change depending on the country – and even state.
