Luanne Hogan speaking at the announcement
Beginning in the fall semester of this year, Anoka-Ramsey Community College business students were offered a new opportunity to continue their education on campus.
In partnership with St. Cloud State University and the Herberger School of Business, Anoka-Ramsey students can earn a Bachelor of Science degree in General Business with the options of a certificate in Professional Selling right from the Coon Rapids Campus.
“The college’s strategic plan is embedded with a commitment to quality education and student success,” said Kent Hanson, president of Anoka-Ramsey. “This partnership exemplifies all of our goals and provides a clear pathway for student success through a bachelor’s degree.”
Overall, this partnership allows the colleges to be more engaged in the community, it’s convenient for students and is a proactive way to bring access to education to students with barriers to going away for college.
“What I hear over and over from our partners in the community is that they need colleges and universities to engage in partnerships that are going to help local communities and businesses meet workforce needs,” said Robbyn Wacker, president of St. Cloud State. “Our emerging mission as partner schools is to ease the way for all students, including non-traditional students. … We can do that through the kind of collaboration that we are celebrating here today — to meet students where they are and with what they need.”
Students in the general business major will be prepared to enter and lead in a variety of careers with the business, technology and communication skills they need to succeed,” she said.
“Together we are expanding our outreach to a greater diversity of students seeking higher education,” she said. “It is imperative that we continue to create new pathways for students of all ages and stages of life to explore and navigate opportunities to get them to the next level.”
The first class of students might be small, with only six participants, but excitement is building as word spreads about the program.
Tayllor Steinmetz is one of the first students to enroll in the program this fall. She started at Anoka-Ramsey as a transfer student from St. Kate’s where she was going to school to be a nurse.
“Anoka-Ramsey helped me find what I was passionate about,” Steinmetz said. “Something just wasn’t clicking, I took a business ethics class and it sold it for me, business was where I needed to go.”
As soon as the opportunity with St. Cloud State presented itself, Steinmetz knew she had to take it. “I remember the exact moment that I was sitting in my advisor’s office at Anoka-Ramsey and we were reviewing my transfer pathway when she reached out to me with this new opportunity, I haven’t been more excited about being part of a program than I am right now.”
Learn more about the bachelor’s degree in General Business and partnership with St. Cloud State University.
Anoka-Ramsey Community College has campuses in Cambridge and Coon Rapids. It is a member of Minnesota State.