The Tribune

The start date for the fall trimester at the Bahamas Institute of Business and Technology this year is August 26 and according to President Forbes, freshman class enrollment is expected to be the strongest since the easing of pandemic. While the majority of the new enrollees reside in New Providence, this year’s class is made up of students from across the The Bahamas; Andros, Abaco, Eleuthera, Exuma are all well represented in this year’s student body.

Like students in previous years, this freshman class boasts students with a broad cross section of interest but programmes in healthcare and business are experiencing the heaviest influx of new students. 

BIBT is one of the only local colleges that offers short certificate courses, international certification courses and degree programmes in healthcare covering areas such as clinical medical assisting, administrative medical assisting, healthcare administration, phlebotomy technician, EKG technician and pharmacy technician. 

Denovia Smith, a freshman from New Providence, said she enrolled in the healthcare programme because of the increasing number of career opportunities in the field and given that she is able to complete her training program in a short period of time. She is studying clinical medical assisting.

Mandy Major, another freshman from Cat Island, graduated from Arthur’s Town High School. She is pursuing studies in business and wishes to work in the field of management. Business is one of BIBT’s largest schools with over 100 students. Certificate, associate degrees and bachelor degree programs are available in accounting, banking and finance, business administration, human resource management and marketing management.

While business and healthcare lead the way in freshman enrolment, it should be noted that the college offers a wide array of other career-oriented programmes of study in law, criminal justice, teacher education, computer science and information technology. Alessia Ferguson is a member of the freshman class. She is starting studies this fall and is enrolled in the computer networking associate degree programme at our Nassau campus. She likes working with computers and hopes to become a network administrator once she completes her studies.

It is also notable that enrollment at the Freeport campus of BIBT has similarly shown an increase in the number of students. Although the college is continuing its transition back to face-to-face classes, students seem to have become accustomed to online learning and show some preference for that mode of delivery. Like students at the Nassau campus, students in Freeport have both online and face-to-face options available to them for certificate courses.

Allied health and business are likewise popular career choices at BIBT’s Freeport campus.

Almost 100 percent of the students in this year’s freshman class are recipients of BIBT’s in-house scholarship assistance programme. This programme awards eligible students up to $450 per term towards their tuition. In select cases, scholarship awards of $900 were granted. A small percentage of students also benefit from the government’s National Tuition Assistance programme. This programme awards $4,000 a year to successful applicants towards their tuition. 

President Forbes said he is encouraged by the size of the freshman class this year. This class is poised to be the largest since the COVID-19 protocols were relaxed. 

For more information, visit www.bibtbahamas.com.

Older Students Return to College

Statistically, more than 20 percent of today’s college student body is made up of adults beyond the age of 30 and increasing year over year. There are many reasons why more and more older persons have been returning to the classroom but a majority of those interviewed listed the following reasons:

Free time: As the responsibility of care for young children and earning a living decrease older adults use the extra time to invest in their own education. In many cases they now have the time to complete degrees they may have started earlier in life.

Proving to children: Many older adults say they want to prove to their children that they can accomplish their academic goals and demonstrate to them that they should do likewise.

Changing work environment: In recent years, advancement in technology has greatly altered the work environment. Many adults who attended school years ago find themselves grappling with this new technological advancement and make the decision to upgrade their education by returning to college.

Validate their knowledge: After gaining years of experience working in a particular field without any official recognition for their knowledge and skills many adults return to the classroom primarily to earn a degree or certificate to validate their knowledge.

The need to remain competitive: Year after year the workplace is invaded by fresh new college graduates with a myriad of new skills and degrees. Older workers who want to remain competitive may choose to return to school to upgrade their skills by earning certificates or degrees.

Wiser: Many mature students feel that time and experience have better prepared them to handle the demands of higher education and are now ready to take up the challenge.

Dr Deswell Forbes, president of the Bahamas Institute of Business and Technology, said the student body at that college has always consisted of a significant number of persons over 30 and this year’s freshman class is expected to be similar. Donna Brown is one such student who has return to college to validate her experience in the healthcare field. She has worked for many years as a healthcare provider but did have official documentation of her skills and knowledge. She is now pursuing studies leading to an associate degree in medical assisting.

While President Forbes encourages mature adults to fulfill their educational dream, he advises that older students must be mindful to balance life and school as adults. The data shows that one of the primary reasons older adults didn’t complete degrees in the first place was because of their difficulties juggling work, family and school.