University of Washington Distance Learning Programs

The University of Washington distance learning has been conducting several online graduate degree and professional certification programs since 1995. With several years of experience in designing and delivering online courses and study programs to the student and the professional community, and through some very credible partnerships with some of the largest providers of online education in the US which include the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Wisconsin and Penn State University, the University of Washington (UW) has managed to establish a solid reputation for imparting quality online education and professional training that is well recognized across the industry and academia alike.

Courses and degrees offered

The University of Washington distance learning offers thirteen online degree programs, more than twenty online certificate programs and hundreds of credit and non-credit courses making it a very popular destination for online education in the US.

Some of the more popular degree programs include a general Masters Degree in Engineering, Master of Nursing and Master of Science from the School of Nursing, External Doctor of Pharmacy Program from the School of Pharmacy, Extended Master's in Public Health from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Distance Master of Library and Information Science (dMLIS) from the Information School and Master in Strategic Planning for Critical Infrastructures from the UW Department of Urban Design and Planning.

The registration process

Registering for an online course or degree is very simple. At the time of applying for any course, you would be required to provide documents such as transcripts that verify whether certain prerequisites are met. You have the choice of registering via email, fax, or in-person.

Be careful that you attach all valid documentation, transcripts and test scores with the registration form. Also note that as per the registration rules, you would be required to pay course fees at the time of registering for a course.

Unfortunately, the University of Washington distance learning does not have any financial aid programs for it's online programs, so you might have to look elsewhere for financing your degree.

The delivery of the courses

A separate non-profit division of the university called the UW Educational Outreach manages almost all the courses offered by the University of Washington distance learning. The university employs highly qualified instructional designers for developing online courses, and preparing instructional material, which includes multimedia presentations and online lecture transcripts.

This ensures that every online course meets the same rigorous standards of excellence that students can expect from courses taught on-campus, with the added benefit of a flexible schedule for completing courses. The University of Washington distance learning program allows students to register for individual courses at any time of the year.

There is a provision for communicating with course instructors through emails, and one can even engage in online discussions and chat sessions as a way of communicating with classmates and course supervisors.

Some Limitations

While it may not be very important to most of the students, please note that you will generally not be allowed to register for more than two online courses at a time, although a provision does exist for taking special permission in exceptional circumstances.

Also, you should be aware that there are some courses, which the University calls "group-start" courses that require one or more classroom meetings.

If you were at all concerned about having to visit the campus, preferring courses that are fully online instead, you would do well to carefully review each course introduction online before registering for the course. The course description specifies if classroom meetings are a part of the course requirements. So pay careful attention before registering.

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