NEC Launches Programs in South America

NEC’s Strategic Plan 2020–2025 includes the introduction of degree programs delivered in Spanish to students within the United States. However, last spring the leadership team learned of an opportunity for NEC to deliver some of its established online programs in Spanish to students in South America and quickly acted.

“Although this opportunity delivers programs in South America, it still very much aligns with our goal to offer degree programs in Spanish,” explained Dr. Michele Perkins, Chancellor. “And it allows NEC to engage with Spanish-speaking communities beyond the United States.”

After receiving approval from its accrediting agency, the New England Commission on Higher Education, NEC got to work preparing some of its most popular online programs for delivery in South America. This process included hiring a bilingual program director and bilingual faculty, translating course materials into Spanish, and marketing the degree programs to prospective students in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico.

South American students enroll in NEC’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies and can choose from these online programs: BA in Business Administration, BA in Business Administration—Computer Information Systems concentration, BS in Accounting, BS in Cybersecurity, MS in Cybersecurity, MS in Data Science and Analytics, MS in Accounting, MS in Higher Education Administration, and MEd in Education. All nine of these programs launched this fall.

“We’re very excited about this opportunity,” stated Wayne Lesperance, Interim President. “Beyond fulfilling a strategic goal, our presence in South America represents an additional revenue stream, which is exactly what you want for an institution. In New England, there’s only one other institution offering programs in Spanish. If this opportunity goes the way we see it going, we will overtake their enrollment numbers.”

Learn More
For more information about these programs and how to apply, please click here.