When pursuing a degree from the University, students have many options, including some that never require them to take a step onto the main campus.
BGSU’s Firelands campus now offers nine bachelor’s degrees in areas such as business administration, nursing, criminal justice and visual communication technology.
Jim Smith, dean of Firelands from 2001 to 2007 and current vice president of economic development on the main campus, attributes the increase in bachelor’s degree programs to Fireland’s higher enrollment.
The Firelands campus obtained its highest enrollment in its almost 40-year history in 2007, with 2,065 students, according to Office of Admissions records. In the same period, enrollment at the main campus dropped to its lowest numbers since 2003 with a headcount of 18,619.
Firelands is becoming a more popular option for students, Smith said, because tuition for a full-time student and Ohio resident at Firelands is $2,106 compared to $4,373 for tuition at main campus.
‘Cost is a big issue,’ Smith said. ‘When I was there we invested heavily in marketing and advertising Firelands as a BG degree at a reasonable cost.’
Tony Fries, 20-year-old first-year student at Firelands, plans to eventually attend BGSU’s main campus but is getting his general classes out of the way at Firelands to avoid paying main campus’ tuition.
‘I save a lot of money by going to Firelands,’ Fries said. ‘The tuition is much lower, and I’m able to work.’
Fries works 40 hours a week in a factory near his hometown of Norwalk, Ohio on top of taking classes in order to pay for his schooling.
Firelands also has a student body that consists of more non-traditonal students.
Lovey A. Leavell is one of these non-traditional students at Firelands.
The 68 year-old is a full-time student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies and is the student affairs chair for the Firelands Student Government.
She expects to graduate in May 2010 and post-graduation she plans on pursuing a master’s degree or attending law school.
‘Being a non-traditional student, I’ve set my goals rather high,’ Leavell said.
Firelands has a larger percentage of traditional students who come there right out of high school then before, said Lesley Ruszkowski, director of marketing and communication at Firelands.
‘We shifted from about a fifty-fifty split between traditional and non-traditional students to 65 percent traditional and 35 percent non-traditional,’ Ruszkowski said.
Dan Blystone, 20-year-old fourth-year student, has been attending FIrelands since he was a junior in high school through a post-secondary program.
He said after graduating from Firelands that he may enroll at another University.
Blystone has met many friends at Firelands even though it is a commuter school.
‘I’ve made a lot of friends here, and there are student groups here,’ Blystone said. ‘There are a lot of science groups here.’
Even though Firelands is a commuter campus they are still plenty of student organizations, such as the Intramural Club, Model United Nations, Young Democratic Socialists, Young Republicans, Campus Fellowship and clubs related to different majors offered, said Ruszkowski.
There are many activities for students, but a lot of students at Firelands are busy with other things, Leavell said.
‘There are lots of things for students who want to be involved,’ Leavall said, ‘but there are a lot of students here who work full-time jobs, and there are a lot of non-traditional students.’
