SUNY Oswego’s new integrative professional studies (IPS) degree will allow students to focus on topics that best align with their personal or professional journeys. The recently launched IPS degree bridges the gap for transfer students and professionals looking to finish their higher education, by maximizing transfer credits and providing enhanced flexibility in how students take classes.

The degree, particularly aimed at adult or nontraditional students, is highly customizable with five main areas of study: communication skills; data analysis and project management; digital skills, self-management; and social structure and systems. Due to the wide variety of transfer credits allowed, SUNY Oswego offers both a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science degree. The new IPS degree is also offered in an online delivery mode. Some in-person classes may be taken at the college's Syracuse campus.

These new IPS degrees take into account projected workplace needs of the future while factoring in the best ways for students to access them. Amy Wallace, one of the first students in the new integrative professional studies program, joined because of flexibility.

Wallace is an example of the type of student the program was built to serve. Students and professionals use transfer credits and take a variety of flexible classes on their pathway towards earning a degree. Wallace says with the help of her academic planning coordinator, she is well on her way to earning her degree while working full-time on campus.

“My original target date was to finish in the fall of 2023 but now with all my transfer credits it looks like the spring of 2023,” Wallace noted.

“This program will be tailored to each student, as every single student will work one-on-one with an academic planning coordinator to decide which path is best for them,” said Jill Pippin, dean of the Division of Extended Learning at SUNY Oswego, “Our program is very innovative as it allows a customized plan, informed by the skills needed for the future of work, which may include college transfer credits, prior learning assessed for college credit and earned stackable credentials in an individual's pathway to a degree."

The IPS program dovetails with SUNY Oswego’s new microcredentials program, which formalizes an option for current and future students to make themselves more marketable and competitive when seeking top jobs in their field. For example, the recently approved digital media and communication design credential can help people receive up-to-date knowledge and experiences in this expanding field. Students are able to use microcredentials to stack towards a degree.

The microcredential is an innovative new way for students to learn and showcase their skills. Once a microcredential is earned, students receive a digital badge, which they can share on LinkedIn or other social media, as well as add to their resume and other documentation.

For more information about integrative professional studies, visit oswego.edu/ips. To learn more about microcredentials, visit oswego.edu/micro.

For questions, email extlearn@oswego.edu.