Facts & Questions

The National Partnership is a project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) Higher Education Challenge Grants Program. The grant was awarded to the State University of New York College of Oneonta for a period of three years to address the national need for increasing the number of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) educators in the workplace.

The National Partnership seeks to facilitate collaborative relationships with educational institutions to provide online courses for persons who want to teach FCS courses at the middle and high school levels or who want to prepare for other FCS workforce opportunities. The National Partnership seeks to help in making online FCS content courses available to students who would otherwise not have an opportunity to prepare for FCS employment.

Courses are sought that would satisfy licensure requirements addressing the following focus areas: Culinary arts, hospitality, and tourism; Education and training; Food science and nutrition; Health management and wellness; Housing and interior design; Human/child development and family relations; Personal and family finance; and Textiles, apparel and retailing.

Licensure requirements vary by state. It is therefore the student’s responsibility to verify whether the course meets the requirements for the state from which licensure is sought.

Students registered through the partnership may or may not be earning a degree at an institution. The partnership is not awarding degrees. The partnership seeks to provide access to courses for students who can not find the course(s) needed at a university convenient to them. 
 
If a student is a degree seeking student from a university, they would earn a degree from that institution. A student seeking a degree from an institution could take a course through the partnership and obtain a transcript from the institution from which the course was taken. If the course meets the degree requirements of the institution from which the student seeks to earn a degree, the university would allow the course to transfer as an equivalent course. It is recommended that the student determine transferability of the course or courses with the institution where the degree is being earned prior to taking the course.
For courses that an institution offers to its own students and students taking the course through the partnership, the institution’s own students would register for the course as matriculating students, while a student who is taking the course through the partnership would register as a non-matriculating student.

Locate a course you want to take from the FCS Course Repository. The application instructions are provided for each course listing. Students will apply directly to the university offering the course. A contact at the university is also listed. Feel free to contact that person with any specific questions related to the application or enrollment process. 

The admission process and criteria vary with each university.  The application instructions are provided for each course listing.  Students will apply directly to the university offering the course.  Usually, the application process for non-degree seeking students (also called non matriculating students) is much easier than the application process you complete as a degree seeking student.

The tuition rates vary with each university.  Consult the information provided by each university.

Students will follow the academic calendar and deadlines for each university and course for which they are enrolled.  It is very likely that each university will have separate dates and deadlines.

It is the student’s responsibility to transfer or receive credit for the course.  Once the course is completed and grades have been posted, you can request an official transcript from the university from which you took the course. The official transcript can be sent to your home institution or the agency requesting proof of completion of the course. Be sure you have the name and complete address for the person who will receive the transcript. If the transcript is going from one university to another, be sure you know the process required by your university to receive transcripts.

Licensure requirements vary by state. It is therefore the student’s responsibility to verify whether the course meets the requirements for the state from which licensure is sought.

Students will follow the academic calendar and deadlines for each university and course for which they are enrolled.  It is very likely that each university will have separate dates and deadlines.