It has been three years since Drexel University, a private, nonprofit university with a 120-year history in Philadelphia, started up a Sacramento Center for Graduate Studies near the river.
There's good reason now to celebrate its early success.
The center held Drexel's first graduation outside of Philadelphia, 108 students, at the Crocker Art Museum in June. The center offers six master's, one doctorate and one post-baccalaureate program for working professionals, and encourages civic leadership in the community, a plus for Sacramento.
Current enrollment is 300 students, with a goal of 600 by 2015. The program's growing international emphasis also is a plus. The finance program drew 11 students from China this year and will have 52 in the fall. The program also should benefit from Drexel's new partnership with China's Shanghai Advanced Research Institute.
And the new executive director of the Sacramento center, Sandra Kirschenmann, a longtime vice chancellor in the Los Rios Community College system, is exploring the idea of an undergraduate completion program – students from community colleges finishing their last two years at Drexel.
The time is ripe for a private, nonprofit college program downtown. While California's budget crisis is "a disaster for higher education and a disaster for the state," observes Kirschenmann, it provides opportunities for private universities. As tuition increases and slots tighten at the University of California and California State University, she believes Drexel could provide an option for community college students seeking a four-year degree.
Drexel is known nationally for the Drexel Co-op program. Since 1919, students have alternated classroom study with full-time, paid professional experience. As Kirschenmann puts it, "Students graduate with a résumé and a degree." She would like to bring the idea to Sacramento.
Drexel University has been a welcome addition to Sacramento, with more to come in the future.
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