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Presidential Blog

UW Professional and Continuing Education — access for all

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A restless passion for serving the citizens of Washington state has inspired the UW’s mission for more than 150 years, and our continuing education program — known as UW Professional & Continuing Education (UWPCE) — has been a huge contributor to our success. Since UWPCE’s inception in 1912, its goal has remained the same: to increase access to education with programs for everyone.

From humble beginnings over a century ago, UWPCE has evolved to offer a great diversity of programs designed for “nontraditional” learners of all kinds, including children, adults, working professionals and seniors. In 1912, UWPCE served 48 students. Today, nearly 50,000 nontraditional students participate annually in its programs, more than doubling the UW’s current footprint at home and around the globe. Classes covering timely and timeless topics are offered at flexible and convenient times, enabling lifelong learners to keep pace with the present while learning from the past and preparing for future challenges.

All UWPCE programs are overseen by the vice provost for UW Educational Outreach (UWEO), and starting in mid-October Rovy Branon will take the helm. Rovy comes to the UW from the University of Wisconsin–Extension, where he served as associate dean of online learning and technology within the university extension’s Division of Continuing Education, Outreach and E-Learning. He succeeds recently retired Vice Provost David Szatmary, whose innovative leadership during his 30-year career at the University helped UWEO rise to national prominence.

To aid the community’s quest for learning, the UW offers continuing education opportunities in addition to those managed by UWPCE. These include Access, a program that allows Washington state residents over age 60 to audit regular classes on a space-available basis; the Experimental College, run by ASUW; and specialized professional training programs for those in select business, dental, legal, medical, nursing and other fields, administered by individual schools, colleges and departments.

The UW has a proud history of providing the wider community access to education, and we will continue to develop more boundless ways to serve students. We look forward to sharing our passion for education, no matter when, where or how Huskies prefer to learn.

Here is an up-to-date listing of UWPCE-managed, fee-based programs: