Enrollment in the ACU Dallas online undergraduate programs has surpassed expectations.

Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for the Dallas campus Stephen Johnson said they originally projected 25 students across the Bachelor of Science in psychology and the Bachelor of Science in information technology administration programs but said there are approximately 40 students enrolled as of the first week.

Johnson said he believes that there is an increase in student interest in the programs due to well-executed marketing of them.

“We set a specific number of prospected students leaning towards these degree-plans and the number we got back ended up being 30 percent higher,” Johnson said.

He said he believes people are drawn to the reputation of ACU, that the university is not only committed to an excellent education but the spiritual and vocational formation of its students as well.

Assistant Dean for Undergraduate programs at ACU Dallas Dr. Sarah Lee said they are very excited about the number of students enrolled in online programs.

“The students enrolled represent a demographic that has historically been very difficult for ACU to reach and the accessibility of distance learning means that we are connecting these students with amazing faculty who are leaders in their workplaces and academic fields.”

These two programs are targeted toward non-traditional adult learners. This means any student out of high school who wants to take this option will not be able to do so.

The requirement to be enrolled in these programs is a student has been out of high school for at least four years without pursuing a college degree.

With all of the factors leading up to enrollment, Lee said she hopes this will allow for other opportunities for online undergraduate degrees.

“My hope is that the university will offer a suite of online undergraduate programs that are designed with the student in mind. I believe higher education can be transformational in the lives of learners and we will see this firsthand in the stories of our new online students.”