Fridays-Only Degree Program Coming to NOVA-Annandale

Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) students will have an opportunity to enroll in a new Fridays-only degree program at the Annandale campus beginning this fall.

The program, which starts in August, is for “students who are seeking a flexible and convenient option toward achieving an associate degree,” the school says.

“NOVA continues to look for innovative ways to ensure that all of our students are able to achieve their academic goals,” Dr. Barbara Saperstone, provost of the Annandale Campus, said in a statement. “We are excited to be offering this new program, which is designed for students who have work or family obligations and need flexibility when pursuing their degree.”

Students enrolled in the program would attend in-person classes once a week on Fridays and take online courses through the college’s Extended Learning Institute (ELI). The material will be the same as the material covered in regular semester classes and meet the graduation requirements for the associate of science degree in general studies.

Annandale residents in the Wakefield Chapel community have been vocal in the past few years about the amount of traffic the college brings to the area and the number of students who park in surrounding neighborhoods to avoid purchasing a parking permit for the college.

• Read: Near Wakefield Chapel, A Parking Problem That Won't Budge

At a June 11 community forum, Saperstone presented the Fridays-only curriculum to residents as a way to have less students in the area daily and promote the college’s distance learning programs.

“The idea is to draw students away from the middle of the week and flatten out the number of students that are on campus,” Saperstone said of the program.

The college has seen some early success toward that goal.

The Annandale campus saw a 7.16 percent increase in "face to face" students — those who meet in a physical classroom — from 2009-2012. But enrollment decreased from 2011-2012, according to school officials. 

Meanwhile, there was a 40.3 percent increase in distance learning, or virtual, classes from 2009-2012. 

“These numbers are very important because yes, our numbers are going up, but the highest increase is in our distance learning and we have tried very hard to increase the number of classes we offer online,” Saperstone said.

The tuition for the Fridays-only degree will be the same as NOVA’s regular tuition. According to the college’s website, tuition for Virginia residents is  $153.25 per credit hour.