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Le Moyne and Syracuse University agree to expand fast track program

Lisa Ann Rogers
/
Flickr

Le Moyne College and Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies (iSchool) are making it easier to get an accelerated degree with the expansion of their successful fast track program.

With college costs skyrocketing anytime a student can cut down on the number of years they have to go to school the better. And that’s just what the fast track program currently does for students at Le Moyne’s Madden School of Business.  

A new agreement announced this week will make that option available to all undergraduates at Le Moyne who want to get a master’s degree at the iSchool.

“It’s really valuable given that students really need to differentiate themselves in the professional marketplace,” Jeffery Stanton, interim dean of the iSchool says. “It’s really valuable to finish and graduate your education program with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. It gives you a competitive edge in the workplace.”

The iSchool offers students the opportunities to study information management, information science and library science through aspects of systems, services and technology. Focused on expanding human capabilities through information, the iSchool offers master’s degrees in library and information sciences, information management and telecommunications and network management.

The new fast track program allows undergraduates to begin studying for their master’s while they’re still getting their bachelor’s and it cuts the time needed to get the dual degrees from six years to five.

Kate Costello Sullivan, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Le Moyne, says that a library science master’s is becoming something anyone can use.

“A lot of people think of library sciences as something that is strictly an English major’s path.  But that’s not really true in this day in age, because library science has become so technological.   And also at Syracuse they have advanced certificates in things like cultural preservation. So now we’re talking about students in English, history, anthropology, sociology, computer science,” Costello says.

Sullivan says there are a number of professions out there for students who combine an undergraduate program with an information degree.

The expanded fast track program will take affect this academic year.

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.