Educational Directories Unlimited Launches Certificates.Gradschools.com
Chester, PA, April 6, 2001 -
In response to the growing demand for postgraduate certificate courses, Educational Directories Unlimited, Inc. (EDU), the leading provider of online academic program directories targeted toward prospective students, has launched Certificates.Gradschools.com, at the UCEA conference in Philadelphia, as an expansion of Gradschools.com - one of the most visited online directories of graduate programs. Visitors to the Web site will find listings for over 2,400 US-based post-baccalaureate certificate programs in a wide range of disciplines.
Certificates.Gradschools.com allows prospective students to focus solely on post-baccalaureate, non-degreed programs, eliminating the hassle of sifting through thousands of programs that do not meet their needs. Programs are searchable first by subject, then by location.
The new Web site marks an expanding direction for EDU, which has roots in college-aged marketing.
"Professionals who have been in the business world for years are returning to school to help advance their careers or to prepare them for new ones," says Mark Shay, president and founder of EDU. "Certification programs allow people to choose specific fields of study, at an often significant savings in time and money compared to post-graduate degree programs. Certificates.Gradschools.com provides the (Internet) gateway to people taking that next step in their lives."
Post baccalaureate certificate programs are increasing in popularity not only among students, but among schools, as well, according to Wayne Patterson, president of Certificate Workshops, Inc., and senior fellow for Program Reviews and International Programs at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Patterson has chronicled the growth of certificate programs for nearly five years and has written 15 papers on the subject, starting his research while dean-in-residence of the Council of Graduate Schools in 1998-99. As president and founder of Certificate Workshops, he delivers seminars instructing academic administrators how to establish certificate programs at their schools.
"What has occurred in recent years is that universities have realized the value certificate programs offer to the community as well as the schools themselves," Patterson says. "The demographic of students who register for certification programs mirrors that of mainstream graduate students, whose average age is actually 35. Certification programs are important because they offer a more manageable entr�e into postgraduate education for students who have been away from school for a while."
Certificate programs are an area in which colleges offer state-of-the-art curricula and professional programs to meet today's students' needs.
About Educational Directories Unlimited, Inc.
Educational Directories Unlimited, Inc. (http://www.edudirectories.com) is a unique college-oriented marketing firm that achieves a dynamic blend of academic purpose and commerce. Among Educational Directories Unlimited's computer-based recruiting tools are several comprehensive directories: GradSchools.com (http://www.gradschools.com); StudyAbroad.com (http://www.studyabroad.com); EducationforAdults.com (http://www.educationforadults.com); CollegeAbroad.com (http://www.collegeabroad.com); Distance.GradSchools.com (http://distance.gradschools.com); Business.GradSchools.com (http://business.gradschools.com) and StudentProspector.com (http://www.studentprospector.com). The Educational Directories Unlimited systems design provides a unique utility for prospective students, advisors, and educational administrators. Since its inception in 1995, Educational Directories Unlimited and its directories have captured a significant share of the "educational shoppers" market by providing students a wealth of information in an easy to use directory format.
For more information on EDU, please contact Matthew Ulmer at 484-766-9200 or email mulmer@edudirectories.com.