New Trine University programs offer quicker pathway to careers

Students who want to become pharmacists or construction managers will soon have a quicker, more cost-efficient pathway to those careers.

Trine University will offer reduced-credit bachelor’s degree programs in pharmacology and construction management to undergraduate students on its Angola campus beginning in fall 2027.

Both programs are designed to be completed in three years, saving time and tuition costs. Pharmacology students will be qualified to continue into graduate studies, while construction management students will be equipped to enter the job market.

“There is a high demand for graduates in each of these areas, in keeping with our philosophy for academic programs at Trine University,” said Lexie Staten, vice president for academic affairs at Trine. “We’re also pleased that we were able to identify how to meet the needs and requirements of employers, in the case of construction management, or graduate schools, in the case of pharmacology, while saving our students and their families time and money.”

Students will be able to apply to the reduced-credit degree programs on the Common App and at trine.edu. Applying to Trine is free for all students.

Construction management

The 95-hour Bachelor of Applied Science in construction management prepares students to step into the construction industry and grow into increasingly significant leadership roles.

Designed with the input of industry partners, the program includes applied projects and hands-on learning that allows students to develop the technical, business and leadership skills needed to manage construction projects from planning to completion.

Students will explore tools and practices used in the modern construction industry, including Building Information Modeling (BIM), construction management software and emerging technologies used for project coordination and site management.

The degree prepares students for careers across the building and infrastructure industries that will allow them to lead and coordinate construction projects.

“Trine University has had an outstanding civil engineering program for more than 120 years, so this program is a natural outgrowth of what we are already doing well,” said Gary Greene, Ph.D., chair of Trine’s Reiners Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “It’s an opportunity to meet another need expressed by our industry partners and it’s an opportunity for construction management students, in addition to the hands-on skills they are already acquiring, to begin to learn how to collaborate with the engineers they’ll work with in the field.”

Pharmacology

The Bachelor of Applied Science in pharmacology requires only 90 undergraduate credit hours, meeting the rigorous requirements for entry to a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) program while reducing the time and cost for degree completion.

Those who complete the Bachelor of Applied Science in pharmacology have the opportunity for seamless admission into a Pharm.D. program offered by one of Trine’s educational partners.

The program provides a strong foundation in the natural sciences, equipping students to apply core concepts of molecular and cellular biology, gain hands-on proficiency in quantitative chemical analysis, analyze the effects of drugs and toxins on human physiology and gain experience in the field prior to graduation.

Students who choose another career path can easily transition into related biological sciences programs without having to take extra courses to finish a four-year degree.

“There is an incredible demand for pharmacists, and with the population aging, it’s only expected to grow,” said Sam Drerup, Ph.D., dean of the Rinker-Ross School of Health Sciences. “The Bachelor of Applied Science in pharmacology helps meet a need for industry and the community while giving our graduates a quicker route to a high-paying professional career.”

For more information about either program, visit trine.edu.