Cornell signs study agreement with Verto Education

High school graduates looking for an academic adventure prior to enrolling full-time at Cornell College now have the opportunity to earn general education and elective credits abroad before coming to the  Cornell College community.

Dean of the College Joe Dieker just signed an agreement with Verto Education, which provides semester-long and year-long programs to travel and study abroad. Students who participate in the program can defer enrollment for the length of their chosen program and transfer their credits to Cornell after their experience with Verto. Mills College in California is granting the academic credit for the courses through the Verto program and these credits will be transferred to Cornell College through Cornell’s normal process of evaluating credits.

“Each year Cornell is seeing a growing percentage of admitted students who want to pursue a gap year prior to enrolling full-time,” said Director of Admission Marie Schofer. “The gap year is often their chance to think about their future endeavors and get hands-on experiences in other parts of the world. This program is great for our students because it allows them that time to explore while still earning college credit.”

Verto Education is a gap year without the gap, a way to earn credits towards your degree while traveling the world.

This agreement makes Cornell one of only 11 of Verto’s partner colleges. Students wishing to attend Cornell can apply through Verto Education to get an admissions decision. Cornell’s admission team will work with Verto to read applications and get acceptance letters out within 2–3 weeks. The agreement also helps to spread the word about Cornell College.

“If they sign up for Verto, they may learn more about Cornell and become interested in what we have to offer with the block plan,” Dieker said. “The kinds of things we can do hands-on and across the world during our 18-day block ties in nicely with Verto’s offerings”

Among the options for trips over the coming two years, students can choose to learn about business ethics and global development in Southeast Asia, public health and sustainability in Latin America, or species conservation and ecology in the South Pacific.

“These students are going to experience a new culture and be involved in service work across the world, so they are going to develop some hands-on skills and academic skills, plus they’ll be developing their intercultural skills by living and working in another place in the world,” Dieker said.