Since Penn State announced it would become the first university in the nation to offer two online psychology degree programs, prospective students have begun to show interest.

"It is exciting to see how much interest there is," said Rich Carlson, professor and director of undergraduate studies in the College of Liberal Arts. "It's great to be able to offer degrees to people who really want it but just are unable to pursue it in the traditional way."

Carlson noted there has been a "huge response" since the new degree programs were announced in November. The World Campus's ad on Google.com has received more than 18,000 hits, and there are currently more than 1,800 prospective students -- those who have requested further information about the program, Carlson said.

"We thought there was the demand out there for this, and since the program was announced it seems to be true," Carlson said.

The World Campus will offer both four-year Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Sciences degrees in psychology to online degree students this summer; the university announced its plans for the program late last semester.

"Clearly, we are proud and excited to be a pioneer in online education," said Dave Aneckstein, Penn State Outreach news and communication manager.

The degrees' demographic will most likely be adult students who are tied to their location because of work or children and cannot attend a residential college the way traditional students do, Carlson said.

"I think this will appeal primarily to two kinds of students," Carlson said. "Those working in social service or a helping profession and want to get a degree to expand their career, and those in business settings interested in a college degree."

The Bachelor of Arts degree has more of a focus on liberal arts, with a foreign language requirement and other liberal arts-based courses. The Bachelor of Science degree has a business option, with students taking 15 credits of business courses, Carlson said. But the core of psychology courses in each degree is identical, he said.

The project was a collaborative effort between the World Campus and members of the College of Liberal Arts at University Park, and has been in the works for two years, said Carlson, who helped organize the program.

"We are always looking to add to enrollment, and this just means that we continue to listen to the needs of students and potential students," Aneckstein said.

The degree program's courses work on a rollout basis, said Sue Repine, program manager of the World Campus. The program will have a batch of introductory courses available from the beginning of summer 2008, and will continue to develop and make courses available as developers work to finish the program curriculum, Repine said.

The first online psychology degrees could be awarded as early as fall 2010 for students coming into the program with credits already earned, she said.

"We have a practice of designing courses on a rollout basis, so that when a new program comes online, we start to develop courses," Repine said. "We can't develop everything at once but we also can't wait. So we make it a point to roll courses out over a period of time."