Novel Grace College and Purdue Partnership Offers Grace Students Expanded Opportunities

Grace College juniors and seniors will have the opportunity beginning in the spring of 2021 to gain additional qualifications which jumpstart their master’s degrees as undergraduates in an innovative partnership between Grace College and Purdue University.

The two institutions have created a consortium agreement. The goal is to enable Grace students to earn credits online toward a Purdue master’s degree, positioning them to complete their master’s rapidly after graduating from Grace College and to then enter the workforce with two degrees.

“It is a privilege to partner with a world-class institution such as Purdue to provide our students with new educational opportunities,” said Grace College President Bill Katip. “Grace is known to be an institution with innovative offerings; one-third of our students graduate with a bachelor’s degree in three years, and many students pursue blended bachelor’s and master’s degrees on campus in a total of four years. We are always looking for new ways to expand our learning opportunities and make it possible for all students to enjoy our Christ-centered community dedicated to mentorship.”

The partners are exploring a variety of other opportunities involving expanded bachelor’s course options for Grace students, professional certificates and graduate course offerings.

“Grace has been a fabulous partner as we have jointly worked towards this novel, innovative agreement designed to directly benefit Grace’s students,” said Gerry McCartney, executive vice president for Purdue Online. “And it enables Purdue to better fulfill its Land Grant mission.”

To start, Grace College will purchase seats in Purdue courses and select high-performing students to fill those spots. The program will include courses in a variety of disciplines including public health, communication arts and health care administration.

The students must have already completed prerequisites appropriate to the additional study they will be doing and typically will have a minimum 3.0 grade point average.

Grace undergraduates enrolled in Purdue classes will still be classified as undergraduates and enroll with Purdue as non degree-seeking students. They will then be able to count the courses toward a Purdue master’s degree once enrolled in a Purdue master’s program.

Purdue University and Grace College have a history of working together. Grace encourages its students to pursue Purdue graduate degrees and Purdue considers Grace graduates highly regarded candidates for admission to many of its graduate programs.

For more information on the program contact Drew Flamm, flammar@grace.edu.