Bachelor's degree at your doorstep

HAWLEY — About 50 people were on hand June 3 for the announcement of the new partnership between the Misericordia University and the Lackawanna College at the old renovated Silk Mill in Hawley, Pennsylvania. They will provide an accelerated expressway bachelor’s degree program from the Misericordia University which has been offered in several locations since 1999, but it’s new to Hawley. It’s specially designed for adults and follows a unique format. Students attend in site once a week in an extended four hour session, and can earn a bachelor’s degree in two and a half years. Registration takes place eight times a year instead of the usual fall and spring, and students are allowed to skip terms due to busy workloads. The collaboration is an extension to the also new Lackawanna Community College programs at the Lake Region Center in the same building. Prospective students can transfer their two-year degree to the new Misericordia program leading to bachelor’s degree. The program can be extended to include other subjects if there’s enough interest, Misericordia spokesperson Marianne Puhalla said after the event. Lackawanna College has been cooperating with the local businesses to develop courses designed toward the needs of the local business community, in a win-win situation for both young residents entering the work force as well as older people switching careers, and the employers. In a new, positive development, Misericordia University has now joined in the education effort to offer a full four-year degree education without having to leave the area.