Degrees Available at Miles College
Miles College appears in our ranking of the 50 Most Technologically Advanced Small Colleges.
Miles College offers 25 degree programs from six different subjects and disciplines. Students with an interest in business can major in business administration, accounting or management. They can join several clubs and organizations that include a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance clinic, which allows students to help locals who meet certain income requirements file their taxes every year. This can also provide students with more accounting experience that will help them in graduate school and when they take any licensing exams.
The social work program available at the college has full accreditation and includes internships for students. Many students choose to do their internships with government agencies and work with children or other special groups. Though the program includes general education courses, it also features social work classes designed to help students meet the requirements for becoming licensed social workers in Alabama. There are also majors available in political science, history, and criminal justice.
One of the more popular majors available is in communications because the college includes several concentrations in this program. The digital journalism concentration prepares students for working in television news and other areas of journalism. It includes courses such as Introduction to Business Applications, Introduction to Public Speaking, Broadcast and Digital News Writing and TV and Digital News Reporting. Majors also have the chance to do work on the campus’s radio and television stations. In the graphic design concentration, students learn how to use graphic design methods to spread and share information. The 45 credits of classes in this concentration include Advertising, Print News Reporting, and Logo Design and Drawing.
The college also offers concentrations for communications majors in business communications and integrated public relations. Both of these programs include general education courses and 45 credits of concentration classes as well as some electives. Other majors can prepare students for their careers too such as the education major. This major includes multiple concentrations based on the goals of students such as English and language arts education and early childhood education.
About Miles College
Miles College is a private university in Alabama that is one of the south’s historically all-black colleges and universities. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church started efforts to build a new college campus in Fairfield in 1893 and finally established that school in 1898. It opened as Miles Memorial College in honor of an African American church leader who brought new opportunities to African Americans in the south. This campus would change its name to Miles College in 1941.
As a historically all-black college, Miles College has a large number of African American and other minority students enrolled in its programs today. Those students can enroll in honors programs designed for those with better high school grades and join clubs and organizations such as the gospel choir and marching band, which uses the Purple Marching Machine name. Some of the Miles College alumni include former mayors and politicians from Alabama and several professional athletes. Its campus grew significantly after the college acquired the site of an old hospital, which it used to create residence halls and other buildings for students. Enrollment at Miles College now includes more than 1,500 students.
Miles College Accreditation Details
Miles College has regional accreditation, which is the accreditation that lets the college’s students apply for financial aid and transfer credits into a degree program when they take classes at other schools. That accreditation comes from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which reaffirms the college’s accreditation every decade. A committee created by the college is responsible for making sure that it keeps its accreditation. The education programs available at Miles have accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), but it also has accreditation for its social work program from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).
Miles College Application Requirements
All the admissions papers and forms that students might need are available online from Miles College. Students have a choice between using a paper application or the college’s online application. Those who use the online application can set up an account and log into their accounts to use the site and access the application. They can also contact an academic counselor to get help applying to Miles and/or schedule a time to take a campus tour. The college also allows students to request any more information they might need and view its full course catalog online.
Future Miles College students will also need to submit a transcript, GED certificate or a copy of a high school diploma. Students who finished high school can provide either an official transcript or a diploma. The college wants to make sure that all incoming freshmen received some preparation for college in the past. Though there is an application deadline, the college will accept any verifying documents after this deadline. Students can also submit an SAT or ACT score. Those who have any credits they want to transfer to the college must submit official transcripts from the schools where they earned those credits also.
Tuition and Financial Aid
All students attending Miles College will pay $5,112 each semester for their tuition. There is a $395 comprehensive fee due each semester also. Students who do not have health insurance pay an extra $150 for coverage from the college every semester, which provides them with basic health care coverage. The college allows students to live on-campus too and charges them $2,758 each semester for room and board. This rate can be higher or lower based on which meal plans and room types they select.
To get financial aid at Miles College, students will need to use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and use the college’s specific code when they file the form online. It typically uses the student’s parents’ income levels to determine how much financial aid he or she should get. Several academic scholarships are available but have minimum requirements that include a grade point average of at least 3.0 and a score of 18/1220 on the ACT/SAT. Students can also qualify for scholarships that come from the state, work-study and student loans. Miles College requires that all students in any of its degree programs complete loan counseling before it will disperse those funds at the beginning of the semester.