Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
|
|
Extension Communications |
11/20/03
For immediate release
Contacts:
Mary Winter, Family and Consumer Sciences, (515) 294-8843, mwinter@iastate.edu
Lynette Spicer, Continuing Education and Communication Services, (515) 294-1327,
lspicer@iastate.edu
Dallas Center Woman Reaches Master's Degree Goal - Online
AMES, Iowa - Tammy Hickman-Fay of Dallas Center admits she wasn't totally sold on the idea of getting her advanced degree through online courses, even if it came with the names of Iowa State University and several other universities behind it.
"One of my first thoughts when I heard of the program was of mail-order courses, which aren't well respected in either the academic or business worlds," she said. She soon changed her mind.
Now, Hickman-Fay, 40, is a believer in the benefits and flexibility of online distance learning. She will graduate from Iowa State in December with her Master of Family and Consumer Sciences degree with a specialization in family financial planning - one of the first two master's graduates in the online curriculum. The degree is a joint product of Iowa State and other universities under a network called Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance. A total of 10 universities are involved.
"It was my goal to have my master's degree by age 40," she said, "and the MBA no longer interested me." She looked over offerings in the family financial planning curriculum and saw a way to combine her family responsibilities with pursuit of the degree at her own pace. Two years ago, she began down the Web pathway.
Hickman-Fay received her undergraduate degree in business administration from Iowa State years ago and since has carried on a career as a CPA and has had four children. This fall she started Prism Financial Planning, a fee-only financial planning practice, in Dallas Center. She helps middle-income individuals and families create financial life plans.
According to Mary Winter, associate dean of family and consumer sciences at Iowa State, the Great Plains consortium began in the middle 1990s as a way to add additional flexibility for people pursuing advanced degrees in family and consumer sciences.
She said students select the university from which they want to receive their degree. Their course lineup has courses from multiple universities. The master's degree in financial planning requires 42 credits, offered via the different universities. Six of the credits are in the form of a practicum - work experience in the chosen field.
Graduates may take the Certified Financial Planner™ certification exam. Another option for students is an 18-credit certification program, after which they may sit for the Certified Financial Planner™ exam. "The certificate program is a sub part of the degree program," said Winter. Under either program, all courses are offered online and are offered every year. Iowa State currently has 16 enrolled in the master's program and 10 in the certificate program.
Along with Iowa State, the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance includes Colorado State, Kansas State, Michigan State, Montana State, North Dakota State, Oklahoma State, South Dakota State and Texas Tech universities, and the University of Nebraska.
More information about this degree and certificate program, as well as one with a specialization in gerontology, may be found at www.lifelearner.iastate.edu/degree/ffp.htm.
-30-
ml: state