Huntingdon College is partnering with Jefferson State Community College to offer a four-year business degree program at Jeff State’s Clanton campus.

The “parallel program” divides each semester into three five-week sessions of accelerated courses. Each course is held one night per week.

Those who complete the 120-hour program earn a fully-accredited Bachelor of Science degree in business management.

“The degree is not a watered down degree,” said Douglas Rogers, site coordinator for Huntingdon’s School for Business and Professional Studies. “When people graduate from the program, they have a degree from Huntingdon.”

While the weekly courses are intensive, they are designed with the busy adult’s schedule in mind. And the benefits for Chilton County residents are obvious — higher education offered close to home.

“We have students that have come straight from junior college, and we have students that have been out of school for 20 years,” said Patsy Maddox, assistant site coordinator at the Shelby campus.

Minimum requirements to enter the program are 30 credit hours and a 2.0 GPA. Anyone with a two-year associate’s degree can automatically enter.

Rogers pointed out that the accelerated style of coursework is demanding, which means students with families may take longer to earn their degree.

“This is not an easy thing, and you’ve got to want to do it,” he said.

Larry Anderson, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Clanton, teaches religion courses at Jeff State. The BS degree requires a minimum of two religion courses.

“One of the things I appreciate is that Huntingdon is requiring religion classes in this non-traditional program,” he said.

Registration for the spring semester begins Nov. 16. Applications may be submitted online at huntingdon.edu/sbps. For more information, call 888-462-5067.