USU Eastern has been on dismissal since March and most students have returned home but are continuing their education via online courses. Castle Country Radio caught up with Associate Vice President Greg Dart to discuss CTE (Career Technical Education) courses and summer classes.

The university is eager to get students in CTE courses to help get them job ready. “We want to get students in these hands-on programs, the training that they need, and to those high paying jobs as quickly as possible and so we’ve revamped all 23 of those programs,” said Dart. Many of the CTE programs are available to start in high school through concurrent enrollment.

The CTE courses are designed to prepare students for the job market and are very affordable. “They can get through them, they’re competency based so they can get through them quickly and be able to enter the workforce and at a lower cost than they have ever been before. There’s been legislative appropriations that has allowed us to offer these programs at the same cost that technical colleges across the state,” stated Dart. Most of the CTE courses that are offered are open entry-open exit which means that a student can start when they are ready. Standalone certificates and stackable credentials are available in that can could lead to associate, bachelor and graduate degrees.

All summer courses will be offered online this year which will open up a wide array of courses for students to choose from as Dart explains, “We have a full slate of online classes and summer this year qualifies for Federal Financial Aid this year and every year going forward and so students that qualify for financial aid can get aid that way and there’s scholarships available as well.” The summer semester is a perfect opportunity to pick up a class or two as the semester is in 7-week blocks.

Dart finished by letting potential students know how to learn more about USU Eastern, “We are still helping students through all the processes that they are usually going through at this point its just happening via web conference or online. We’re happy to help students anytime. For students that would rather talk to someone on the phone call (435) 613-5000 and we can help you that way or go to https://usueastern.edu/”