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Since last fall, Valdosta State University has offered a bachelor of science degree in Early Childhood Education through ABAC.

This four-year course was first offered to ABAC students in the fall of 2002. All the courses are offered online or at night. This program was designed for the working students with daytime jobs who want to eliminate the commute to and from Valdosta.

Each fall semester a new cycle of the program begins. The students who started in fall 2002 form what is call the Cohort 1. The 25 students in Cohort 1 started taking courses to satisfy the degree requirements two nights per week for the fall, spring, and summer. They continued to take courses both in Fall and Spring 2004 and will continue to take course through Spring 2006 when they will be qualified for graduation. The 18 students who started in Fall 2003 (Cohort 2) will follow the same schedule, only one year behind Cohort 1.

The program requires students to apply for admission to the course, as the program can only accept up to 25 people. Students must have an associate's degree in Early Childhood Education or completed 45 semester hours of the appropriate core courses. Students also need a minimum GPA of 2.5 and complete the PRAXIUS I exam successfully. Students also need to apply for admission into Valdosta State University online.

Once students have completed the course and obtained a bachelor of science degree in Early Childhood Education, they are qualified to teach children from the level of Kindergarten through to fifth grade.

Aside from the obvious elimination of the commute to Valdosta, there are a number of advantages in enrolling in this program. One is that students acquire a sense of community within the program. With the acceptance rate set a 25 people, students get to know and interact with these people on a more personal level than you would at a larger school like Valdosta. Plus they have all the advantages of having a Valdosta State professor here at ABAC in a low class size setting.

Applications usually exceed the amount of slots available in the program every year. The application deadline is April 1 for the following fall semester.

At press time, an information session was to be hosted by Julie Reffel, department chair from VSU's Early Childhood Education department, on Feb. 23. Reffel planned to dispense information on the requirements for admission into the program, application process, and taking questions about the program.

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