50 Years of Educating Adult Students

As Immaculata University prepares to celebrate its centennial, another milestone is at hand: the 50th anniversary of CAPS.

In 1899, the IHM Sisters offered evening school for the boys who worked in the mines. That mindset of reaching out to others, who may not have access to education, was the catalyst for the formation of the Evening Division. Launched in 1969, the Evening Division (now known as the College of Adult Professional Studies/CAPS) offered bachelor degrees, teaching certification in elementary and secondary education, and non-credit “fun” courses.

As the program grew, off-site locations were added to reach a wider pool of students and the accelerated class format was introduced to much success. Today, students can choose to take classes on campus, at a satellite site, or online. Now with over 45 bachelor and 10 associate degrees, Immaculata has awarded over 9,440 degrees to CAPS students.

College of Professional Studies: 50 Year Highlights

• 1969 – Evening Division opens to both male and female students
• 1972 – First male students of Evening Division graduate
• 1973 – Two summer sessions added to accommodate needs of growing student enrollment
• 1984 – Local chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda, a national honor society recognizing the academic excellence of continuing education students, chartered
• 1989 – Three off-campus locations opened: Haverford Hospital, National Liberty Insurance Company and Chem Leaman Company
• 1994 – Evening Division renamed Continuing Education Division
• 1995 – ACCEL®, accelerated degree completion programs, begin on campus
• 1996 – ACCEL® program offered at DuPont Company, the first of 70+ off-campus locations
• 2000 – ACCEL® and Continuing Education Division join to create the College of LifeLong Learning (CLL)
• 2006 – In addition to face-to-face, CLL begins offering totally online programs
• 2016 – LifeLong Learning Institute (LLI) launched offering enrichment courses to those 50 years and older
• 2018 – CLL name changes to College of Adult Professional Studies
• 2019 – IU’s College of Adult Professional Studies continues to offer bachelor and associate degrees in over 40 majors and minors providing students with flexibility of face-to-face and online delivery in full semester and accelerated formats.