Continuing Education

Did you know? The Osher Institute is part of a nationwide network of campus programs for late-life learners. To date there are 100 programs from Maine to Hawaii at public and private colleges and universities, all funded by the Bernard Osher Foundation for people age 50 and above. This is part of a worldwide trend that shows universities extending their resources to older learners, demonstrating continuing education’s vital role in aging well.
- Technology Education is the only Authorized Apple Training Center in Utah and offers a range of credit and noncredit technology classes and certificates from introductory classes in Microsoft Office software to advanced networking (CCNA, Linux, etc.), databases, Web design and development, and computer professional certification.
- Test Preparation offers exam preparation courses in order to prepare for standardized academic placement exams such as the GRE, LSAT, and GMAT.
- Professional Education offers noncredit professional development opportunities in budget/finance/administration, HR, leadership/management, nonprofit management, fundraising, project management, and writing/communication, as well as annual conferences and institutes for specific professions and CEUs/PDUs/PDHs.
- Youth Education serves over 3,000 children each year between the ages of 2 and 18 in year-round classes and day camps.
- Lifelong Learning offers a wide variety of enriching and fun courses in subject areas such as dance/movement, food/wine, recreation, business, personal development, art/photography, foreign languages, music/theater, home technology, writing, and crafts. Classes run year-round, with new classes starting weekly.
- The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute offers students 50 and better a membership program of courses and special events in a wide variety of subject areas and recreational activities. Part of a nationwide network of Osher Institutes, the U’s OLLI has more than 500 annual members.
- The English Language Institute (ELI) offers intensive training in English as a second language to groups of international visitors on temporary visas, people in the local workforce seeking certification in English language proficiency, and prospective students honing their English proficiency in preparation for admission as matriculated university students. ELI is accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation, the field’s premier peer review body.
- The Academic Noncredit program offers students, faculty, staff, and others the ability to take noncredit versions of regular on-campus classes (auditing). Each term, over 800 classes are available on a noncredit basis.
Credit Programs
- Traditional courses are offered at off-campus locations in Sandy, Murray, Bountiful, Downtown Salt Lake City, and St. George. Approximately half of the 300 for-credit classes taught at the off-campus sites are operated by departments as part of their regular curriculum; the remaining courses are operated by Continuing Education.
- Distance Education offers online and print-based (correspondence) independent study courses with flexible start/stop times that are not tied to the semester calendar, as well as semester-based telecourses in partnership with the Utah Education Network. Nonmatriculated students may take the online/print-based courses for credit as an entry point to the U.
- Early College teaches mainstream college courses at the Academy for Math Engineering and Science to help prepare students for careers in scientific fields.
- Contract Courses: Continuing Education provides administrative support to colleges and departments to offer self-supporting credit courses to closed cohorts of students.
New Initiatives
- Credit and noncredit courses offered via Internet Video Compression (IVC) to St. George and western Wyoming. Graduate programs in nursing, education, and business are offered in St. George as well as noncredit professional education classes in St. George and Wyoming. New technology offers long-distance students the ability to integrate into classes being held in the Salt Lake area, minimizing the cost to departments while providing a real-time, instructor-led experience for remote students.
