Online Associate’s Degree Programs at Great Basin College
Great Basin College appears in our ranking of the Top 20 Affordable Associate’s in Entrepreneurship Online.
Great Basin College offers online associate’s degree programs that take two years to complete, including an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) program with multiple concentrations and tracks. Students can major in infant and toddler education and work in preschools and similar facilities. Majors need to do practicums too. Early childhood education and human services majors also go along with the AAS program. Students also have the option of choosing an emphasis area instead of a major in a field such as general business, entrepreneurship, graphic communication or criminal justice. The criminal justice program allows students to focus on corrections or law enforcement.
The college’s Associate of Arts (AA) programs help students meet the requirements they’ll need in a bachelor’s program and study history, English and other art subjects. This is available as a general AA for transfer students. It features social science, math, life science, humanities and English courses. In the AA in Business program, majors take Precalculus, Financial Accounting, and Managerial Accounting. The college offers a graphic communication AA degree that includes options for students to earn certificates and then transfer to a bachelor’s program in graphic communications, digital information technology or a related field. It includes Beginning Web Development, Computer Applications, Using Windows, Introduction to Graphic Communications and Design with Photoshop.
At Great Basin College, students can choose from patterns of study paths that are similar to emphasis areas. AA students can choose English, social studies, business and early childhood education patterns. The online Associate of Science (AS) program includes one pattern, which is in land surveying and geomatics (LGC). It allows students to easily transition into the LGC bachelor’s program. The associate’s program includes a capstone requirement where students need to design and complete a land surveying project. Students work with mentors from their first semesters until they finish their projects. Online students have the option of joining the Silver State Land Surveying/Geomatics student organization too.
About Great Basin College
Great Basin College is a former community college that now functions as a junior college and senior university. Established in 1967 as Elko Community College, it opened with one campus in Elko, Nevada. Financial problems almost caused the community college to shut down, but Howard Hughes stepped in and made a major donation to the school. Two years after the campus opened, it became a member of the University of Nevada System. This added more opportunities for students because they could transfer to branches of that system after taking two years of classes in Elko. Later called Northern Nevada Community College or NNCC, it became a full college called Great Basin College or GBC.
GBC has a good reputation as a technical and training school. Students can choose from programs that include fieldwork with leading professionals and programs that help them meet the requirements that schools have for transfer students. The Elko campus has residence halls that charge students a set rate each semester to live in a dorm room and purchase a meal plan. Four branch campuses are available for students in and around Battle Mountain, Ely, and other cities. GBC established small satellite campuses that allow students to take classes in local high schools and other centers in more than 20 towns in the state. With online students factored in, GBC has an enrollment of more than 3,800 students.
Great Basin College Accreditation Details
As GBC has accreditation from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), it can award students in need of a financial aid package. Students only need to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) with the college’s unique school code. The radiologic technology, nursing, and human services programs have accreditation from organizations such as the Council for Standards in Human Services Education (CSHSE) too.
Great Basin College Application Requirements
Students who took any classes from GBC can contact an admissions representative over the phone and complete the enrollment steps without applying first. All other students can apply online, which requires that they log in to an existing account or sign up for a new one. It takes less than 30 minutes for most students to apply online. They can use their accounts to view their balances, view the grades they earned in their classes, get copies of their transcripts and sign up for classes each semester.
To qualify for the college’s in-state tuition rate, students must prove that they are Nevada residents. Those who start or finish the process after the semester starts will only qualify for this rate in the future and not for the current semester. GBC has a Nevada Residency Application that students need to complete. A separate application is available for those who want to get the discounts available for military students, veterans, and their families. Students who have not taken 100-level math and English classes from a college need to take a placement test too. GBC will waive the placement test if it receives an ACT or SAT score from the student.
Tuition and Financial Aid
GBC offers a variety of rates for students based on whether they’re residents of Nevada or another state. Nonresidents taking online classes pay $3,828 each year for full-time enrollment. This rate drops to $2,233 for half time students and $957 for students who take only six credits of classes. Those who take upper-division classes will see their rates climb to $6,192 for full-time enrollment each year. The college charges full-time residents $3,248 for full-time enrollment in lower-division classes and $5,213 in upper-division classes. Students who live in another western state qualify for the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) rate, which ranges from $4,789 to $7,736 for lower and upper-division courses.
Students can log in to their accounts and view how much they owe. This also allows them to make payments with a credit card. The college accepts payments made in person or through mail too. Those who do not qualify for financial aid and do not pay their balances face a $25 late fee. GBC students can access that scholarship application at the beginning of October and have until March to apply. Those who use the FAFSA can automatically qualify for grants, work-study, and loans. Great Basin College offers financial aid options for students in all online associate’s degree programs.
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