Dr. Carrie Johnson, Director, Eastern Illinois University B.A. in General Studies , Outreach & Educational Attainment program.

Angela Masouridis first set foot on the Charleston campus of Eastern Illinois University at her own 2016 graduation.

After some prodding by her faculty advisors, the Naperville resident was invited to deliver a commencement speech as she earned a B.A. in General Studies exclusively through online courses.

Today, she is continuing her education through EIU’s online graduate degree program in political sci-ence-public administration and public policy.

Masouridis hopes to take courses on the Charleston campus, and eventually wants to work on policy is-sues relating to public education and special needs children.

Masouridis began her journey back into the “classroom” during a difficult time for her family and re-members wondering if she would be able to balance work, school, and family.

Like many adult learners the balancing act of school and adult responsibilities can be a scary undertak-ing.

However, colleges around the country are targeting degree programs for returning adult learners with online and fast track programs—especially as the face of the traditional college student is changing.

“Over 40% of today’s college students are 25 and older and only about 15% of college students today are made up of the traditional 18- and 22-year-old who lives on or near a college campus,” said Dr. Car-rie E Johnson, Director of Adult Outreach & Educational Attainment at Eastern Illinois University.

Today’s college students may choose to live at home due to other responsibilities or lack of money, she added.

“Enrollment of traditional students has been dropping for several years as the enrollment of nontradi-tional students increases,” Dr. Johnson said.

EIU’s online B.A. in general studies allows for up to 100 transfer hours from regionally accredited col-leges and universities and 78 hours of community college credit, Johnson said.

“Life experiences also can be evaluated for college credit,” she added.

EIU also offers online bachelor’s degrees in communication in organizations, psychology, organizational development, and nursing.

Online graduate degree programs are offered in aging studies, art with concentrations in art education, community arts, art history, music, political science, business administration, communication disorders, cybersecurity, family and consumer sciences, talent development, and geographic information sciences.

Some students complete their degrees taking online courses while others may choose to take some weekend classes at the Charleston, Champaign, Schaumburg, River Grove and Grayslake facilities, John-son added.

Another local college that offers flexible scheduling is Aurora University.

Their MBA program “is ideal for business professionals who are already into their career, but who need the MBA credential to advance,” said Judson Curry, Aurora University’s dean of adult and graduate stud-ies.

AU has evening, online and some weekend courses.

“It also is well-suited to people who may not have an educational background in business, but who find themselves working in a business setting — for-profit or nonprofit — where they need to sharpen their skills and improve their knowledge of business practices,” Curry said.

Hallie Witmer, a Naperville native who now lives in Aurora, was “looking for a practical education that would work for me now as well as in the future. My most recent class, for example, applied business research, has already helped me evaluate the value proposition of some of our programs.”

Witmer, who earned a B.A. in environmental studies and government from Lawrence University, cur-rently works at the Peck Farm Park Interpretive Center in Geneva developing nature- and environment-related programming for children — a job she started the same week when she started her MBA pro-gram at Aurora University.

Just as important, Witmer noted, her professors and fellow students helped her gain valuable cross-in-dustry perspectives, contacts, and opportunities which will be valuable as she continues to pursue a ca-reer in the nonprofit sector.

“In this program you get a lot from your classmates,” she said. “We’re all learning collectively, very col-laboratively. Everyone there wants to be there.”

Based on a core of seven required eight-week courses and five additional elective courses, the AU MBA program offers a concentration in leadership as well as the flexibility to custom design programs that

focus on a variety of topics, including strategy, human resource management, project management, health care management, data analytics, and others.

For interested prospective business students, Aurora University’s School of Business and Public Policy and the Center for Adult and Graduate Studies will host an open house for prospective evening under-graduate and graduate business students at the Hill Welcome Center, located on campus at 1315 Prairie St. The June 13 session begins at 5:30 p.m.

The free event will feature a faculty-led panel of current undergraduate degree-completion business students and MBA or Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) students who will share their experiences in the program. Brian Vander Schee, a marketing professor and director of graduate business programs, will moderate the panel and a Q&A session following.

Aurora University also offers online graduate degrees in homeland security and math education as well as bachelor degrees in business administration, computer science, criminal justice, general studies, non-profit leadership studies and nursing.

College of DuPage is another school that has revamped its adult learning program, according to Andrea Liedtke, its Manager of Academic Outreach Programs.

Previously, the program had been structured as a “cohort program” where a group of adult learners be-gan the program at the same time, took the courses, and completed the program together.

This option had advantages, Liedtke said, “Often the students became close friends.”

However, for adult learners “life happens,” she added. “Parents need care, children get sick, children have school events, and business obligations call.”

Adult learners—students age 21 or older—the option to enroll in compressed eight week terms that are held on weekday evenings from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at its main campus in Glen Ellyn, but also at centers in Addison, Carol Stream, Naperville, and Westmont.

“We felt that many of our students had kids’ activities on the weekends and needed to use weekends to catch up on other responsibilities,” she added.

Liedtke said adult learners at College of DuPage may earn an associate in arts degree, an associate in ap-plied sciences degree in management, or a certificate in management, supervision, entrepreneurship, or organizational leadership through its fast track program.

Students also may enroll in online classes , compressed classes, or non-accelerated classes in a class-room environment.

“Some students are very creative and merge all three,” Liedtke added.

“It does take a lot of self-discipline to complete a degree,” she added. “The majority of our students have full-time jobs, dependent children, and homes.”

Northern Illinois University offers a variety of academic programs, undergraduate and graduate, both online, or at NIU Outreach Centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville and Rockford, as well as other loca-tions across the northern Illinois region.

Visit niu.edu/ora or niu.edu/niuonline for more information.