Online Associate’s Degrees Offered at the College of Southern Idaho
College of Southern Idaho appears in our ranking of the Top 20 Affordable Associate’s in Entrepreneurship Online.
Through multiple departments, the College of Southern Idaho offers online associate’s degree programs for students living in Idaho and other states. Students can choose from both Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS) programs as well as some Associate of Applied Science (AAS) options.
The AAS programs include majors in agriculture, heavy equipment technology, law enforcement, and diesel technology. Many of these programs include offline training through the form of internships. In the college’s baking and pastry arts program, students learn both how to bake and create culinary treats at the same time that they learn how to run and manage a restaurant kitchen. The automotive engineering technology program includes an internship to make sure that students can repair vehicles and do similar tasks. There is also a welding program that includes an apprenticeship. Students use their fieldwork to train with a professional welder and to learn the skills that welders need.
With the AS programs, students will study a subject from different directions. One major is in equine business management, which the college designed for students who want to work in stables and similar organizations. Not only do students learn about how to care for horses and take care of their health needs, but they also learn how to hire employees for the stable and manage those workers. Some of the other majors for AS students include network systems, physical therapy, radiologic technology, early childhood technology, and drafting technology.
In the college’s online AA programs, students can learn the basic skills they will need in a four-year program and study an area of the arts. The college offers an AA in Social Work that trains students on working for government agencies and handling the needs of their clients. It includes courses on working with children, the elderly and others with special needs. Also available is an AA in Outdoor Recreation Leadership. Designed for those who want to work for Outward Bound and similar organizations, it prepares students for leading employees and customers. AA programs include majors in communication, dance, and psychology too.
About the College of Southern Idaho
The College of Southern Idaho is both a public and a community college known as CSI. It has a large campus in Twin Falls and study centers in four cities, including Jerome and Gooding. Several people and organizations asked the state to build a new college as early as the 1950s. The Southern Idaho College opened in the early 1960s but did not last long. Founded in 1965, the college opened as CSI the following year. Classes were available on the Twin Falls High School campus until the college built a separate campus, which opened in 1968.
Over the years, CSI grew as its curriculum changed and it added new degree programs. Many of its students transfer to the four-year universities in the northwest, though students also have the option of going directly into the workforce. Nearly 60 percent of the college’s students are 21 or older. A large number of students either take classes online or commute to the college too. CSI has an enrollment of 9,100 students across all its degree programs.
College of Southern Idaho Accreditation Details
CSI has the same regional accreditation that large schools in the northwest have, which comes from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). It first obtained this accreditation in 1968 and met the requirements to renew its accreditation ever since then. This is the accreditation that allows students with college credits to bring their credits to the college. NWCCU accreditation also gives students the option of getting a financial aid package when they complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
College of Southern Idaho Application Requirements
As CSI does not charge an application fee, students can apply to the college for free. They either need to use the online application or visit the campus and complete the application in person. This also allows students to take a tour of the campus. Both traditional and online students should submit their transcripts. They can use their high school transcripts or use GED transcripts if they have an equivalency certificate. CSI also requires that students use the advising center to schedule an appointment with an academic counselor. The counselor will go over the requirements of each online program and help the students complete their orientations and register for classes.
All students attending CSI must place into the English and math classes that the college offers. Students have the option of taking a placement test on the CSI campus. Those who score low on the test may need to enroll in the college’s WRITE program, which teaches them the foundations of college writing. CSI accepts ACT and SAT scores that are no more than three years old and college transcripts. It will use the student’s scores or grades to place the individual into classes without requiring that the applicant take a placement test.
Tuition and Financial Aid
CSI charges full-time students $3,360 each year for tuition and fees as long as they live in Iowa and are residents of the state. Students who are not residents of Idaho will pay $6,840 in tuition and fees every year. On-campus students also pay $3,750 for a room and board package. Those who live in the school district, which includes six counties, pay $140 per credit hour. Residents of the state who live in a different county pay $190 per credit hour. The college charges other nonresidents a rate of $295 per credit hour. These rates are the same for all online students too.
With financial aid, students can pay for their living expenses and their tuition and fees. They can use federal and state financial aid even if they also set up a payment plan with the college. CSI has a final deadline in the middle of July, which is when students applying to an online program must submit the FAFSA. This can help them qualify for work-study and get a job away from the campus. The FAFSA helps students get scholarships, loans, and grants too. Online and traditional students in the degree programs available from the College of Southern Idaho receive more than $2 million in scholarships every year.
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