Urban College of Boston Brings All Degree and Certificate Programs Online

After holding traditional classes for more than three decades, Urban College of Boston has moved entirely online, bringing its two-year degree and certificate programs to a larger student base.

 Yves Salomon-Fernández, president of Urban College of Boston, recently explained the transition and its benefits on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program. She said students at Urban College Boston convinced the administration to move from in-classroom courses to virtual.

“Urban College has been around for about 35 years. About three years ago, students pretty much voted with their feet and told us they primarily wanted to be online. So, all of our programs are online and we can reach anyone in Massachusetts and elsewhere, but primarily in Massachusetts,” Salomon-Fernández said.

The school continues to maintain administrative offices in Chinatown.

Salomon-Fernández added new programs are available in several fields, both courses leading to a two-year associate degree and certificate programs that prepare students for so-called “middle skills” jobs that do not require a four-year college degree.

“We have got some exciting new programs coming up in business, in digital marketing, in project management, in paraprofessional studies, early childhood education. So, lots of options, something for everybody,” Salomon-Fernández said.

For those considering college later in life, she said they’ll be in good company. The average age of the student body is 34.

“We’re getting mostly adults. But I got to tell you, something happened to those kids who went to school during the pandemic, that a lot of them graduated and they said, ‘You know, I don’t know if I want to go away for school. I don’t know if I want to sign up for four years. I don’ t know if I’m ready.’ So, we are seeing some kids who also took some time off and they are working and they said, ‘You know, I can do this online thing,’” she said.

The president also noted the school is particularly attractive to non-English speakers because courses are offered in Mandarin, Haitian-Creole, Portuguese and Spanish. Students do need to be proficient in English to graduate, she said, adding the college provides tutoring and other supports to help students succeed.

“The goal is for you to master college level English for you to graduate because we are in America, after all, and we want people to be able to get jobs in their disciplines,” she said.

Salomon-Fernández is herself an immigrant as she arrived in the United States from Haiti at 12. She is a graduate of Boston Latin School and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her master’s degree is from the London School of Economics and her Ph.D. is from Boston College.

Originally founded in 1993 by Action for Boston Community Development, a Boston-based anti-poverty agency, Urban College Boston is a private, nonprofit college accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.