WC, ACU create direct pathway to MBA and management master’s programs
Students who complete Weatherford College's Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in Organizational Leadership now have a direct pathway to graduate studies through a new transfer agreement with Abilene Christian University.
College leaders signed the agreement Thursday, creating a streamlined route for eligible WC alumni to pursue either a Master of Business Administration or a Master of Science in Management at ACU.
The partnership is designed to help qualified WC graduates transition into graduate education and provides several benefits including waived applications fees and early access to academic advising.
“We are honored to partner with such a noble institution as Abilene Christian University,” said WC President Tod Allen Farmer.
“Our core values at Weatherford College are faith, hope and love. So, partnering with a Christian university to provide our talented students with the opportunity to earn a graduate education that carries on the tradition of excellence and the character and the virtue that will create not only an educated worker, but a quality human being. Someone that we want to work with, who can add value to our organizations and add value to society.”
Farmer said the agreement could serve as a foundation for future collaborations between the two institutions.
Dr. Stephen Johnson, CEO of ACU Dallas and ACU Online, praised WC's campus, history and mission while emphasizing the alignment between the two institutions.
“We say we want to be among the very best at providing the knowledge and skill to advance a career, because that does create hope in a future and possibility,” he said. “But what differentiates us is our focus. We really order our priorities and our institutional identity, aligning with yours, in faith, hope and love.”
Johnson also spoke about the impact of higher education on first-generation college students, noting his own experience.
“I'm a first-generation college student,” he said. “I know, for me, the transformative difference that education makes in an individual's life and the trajectory it creates for whole families and their future. That's powerful.”