Most of our learners haven’t set foot inside a university classroom in many years but they found their way to us at the insistence of a little voice in the back of their heads that urged them forward into more education. But how did they know which educational institution would best meet their needs? What questions should they have been asking? What answers should they have heard?
There are countless educational organizations out there offering adult degree programs these days and the faculty and staff at the Intercultural Open University Foundation (IOUF) know that a return to school can be overwhelming. That’s especiallytrue for mature learners who have busy careers and, quite often, family considerations and charitable interests.
As a respected provider of distributed education at the Master’s and PhD levels, we have three decades of experience in mentoring mature adults to their chosen degree and we feel any potential purveyor of higher education should answer three questions well:
1. Is the educational experience the organization provides flexible enough to make it possible for a student to pursue their degree and still maintain their work and family commitments?
2. Does the educating organization have the appropriate credentials necessary for delivering a quality education?
3. Are students well supported in their efforts to obtain their degrees?
The IOUF earns high marks from our students – who we call “learners” – in all three of these areas.
Although we have offices in the USA and in Spain, our learners work towards and obtain a degree without having to be present on a physical campus. All communication and course work are completed online and learners direct their own curricula in consultation with a thesis advisor. Working at their own pace, they complete their distance learning program when and as their schedules permit.
In addition, IOUF faculty members are all respected academics with decades of experience in their chosen fields. Many hold concurrent teaching positions at other universities and some are contributing to the development of their selected fields as active members of the workforce. All faculty and staff work for the IOUF on a volunteer basis. From an accreditation perspective, cooperative educational agreements signed in 2011 mean our graduates receive degrees from the Universidad Azteca and the Universidad Central de Nicaragua, as well as from the IOUF.
Our learners are fully supported in their distance learning efforts and each one is assigned a faculty mentor who oversees all aspects of their education, providing input and assistance where necessary.
If you feel you would like to investigate the possibility of pursuing your graduate or post-graduate degree with the IOUF, we invite you to click on the “Admission” tab on our website for more information. We’d appreciate the opportunity to explore the possibility of welcoming you as a learner in our University Foundation and we’d love to help you in your own efforts to make the world a better place through academic achievement.