Center for Excellence in Higher Education Launches New Career Online High School Program

OGDEN, Utah, March 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE) has launched a new accredited high school diploma program as part of its Good Neighbor Initiative. Career Online High School (COHS) is available at Stevens-Henager College's Ogden, Utah and CollegeAmerica's Denver, Colo. campuses and is designed for students seeking an accredited high school diploma.

The program is offered in partnership with Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE) and ed2go. SHCOE and its Career Online High School Division is a private school district that has been granted District Accreditation from the AdvancED Accreditation Commission. Ed2go is a network of colleges, universities and other organizations that provides the portal for online learning.

"We recognize the enduring need in our community to curb the high school dropout rate," said Vicky Dewsnup, president of Stevens-Henager College and regional director for Stevens-Henager campuses in Northern Utah and Idaho. "A high school diploma opens the door to ongoing educational opportunities and we want to see more students graduate from high school, attend college and secure higher paying jobs."

Dewsnup said it was important to provide those students with an opportunity to earn an official high school diploma. "We offer GED preparatory classes, but we also wanted to offer the opportunity to earn a high school diploma."

COHS will be made available in special learning labs set up on CEHE campuses. These unique hybrid learning environments, which marry onsite and online support, will be staffed by facilitators and will enable COHS students to experience a college campus environment. "COHS is designed to support students as they return to their high school education. We anticipate meeting students who have been out of high school for a little as a year to as long as 50 years," said Dewsnup.

Nathan Larson, executive director of the Denver campus of CollegeAmerica, is enthusiastic about having COHS available on his campus.

"The Career Online High School program will open the door for many who thought they would never graduate from high school and enroll in college," Larson said. "COHS is set up as a self-paced program. The students have a chance to come back to high school and complete it at their own pace in the supportive environment CollegeAmerica and Stevens-Henager College offer."

Offering an accredited 18-credit high school diploma and credentialed career certificate in a single comprehensive online program, COHS is part of the world's first SACS accredited online school district, Smart Horizons Career Online Education. The school was established in 2012 through a partnership between Smart Horizons Career Online Education and Cengage Learning's ed2go, the nation's largest provider of turnkey online training. The ongoing mission of these two leaders in the education industry is to provide affordable, career-based online education opportunities for the millions of adults in the United States without high school diplomas.

Established in 2006, CEHE is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to promoting excellence in higher education through philanthropy and offering career-focused educational programs. COHS, which enables students to complete their high school diplomas in order to move on to enrollment into post-secondary institutions, will be offered at several colleges under the CEHE umbrella, including Stevens-Henager College in Ogden, Utah.

For more information about earning your high school diploma through Stevens-Henager College or CollegeAmerica, please visit www.careeronlinehs.org.

About Center for Excellence in Higher Education
Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE) is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit dedicated to improving and promoting higher education. Originally established in 2006 by a group of philanthropists, the goal of CEHE was to educate the public about the state of higher education and help donors promote excellence in higher education. In 2012, CEHE merged with CollegeAmerica Services Inc., Stevens-Henager College (including Independence University), CollegeAmerica, and California College San Diego. Offering both undergraduate and graduate degree programs in healthcare, business, graphic arts and information technology, CEHE and its system of colleges are committed to preparing professionals for meaningful careers and an increased sense of satisfaction as it continues to pursue excellence in higher education. For more information, visit www.cehe.org.

SOURCE Center for Excellence in Higher Education