-- Beginning in the fall 2026 term, Newman University will offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Diagnostic Medical Sonography at Garden City Community College through the Newman HERE initiative. The program is one of the latest initiatives to bring bachelor's degrees to the rural "education deserts" where geography makes 4-year degrees inaccessible, the Wichita Business Journal reports.
Interested parties can learn more at https://gcccnewman.com/
Education deserts have zero colleges or only one public broad-access institution within 25 miles - in rural Kansas, it's 125 miles. Roughly 15-20% of Kansas' population lives in non-metropolitan rural counties, according to education advocates at Third Way. Geography heavily influences college enrollment, with most undergraduates - particularly minority and low-income students - attending college 25-50 miles from home.
As such, the Newman HERE initiative lets students stay in Garden City while accessing university-level instruction, completing degrees in two years or less. This contrasts sharply with the relocation and tuition burdens typical of conventional four-year institutions, making higher education accessible to working adults and recent community college graduates.
Students in the new sonography program will gain hands-on clinical training through a partnership with CommonSpirit Health, which provides supervised experience at St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City and Dodge City, as well as Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital in Ulysses. Program graduates will be prepared for careers as diagnostic medical sonographers, ultrasound technologists, echocardiographers, vascular sonographers, OB/GYN sonographers, musculoskeletal sonographers, and travel ultrasound technologists.
In addition to providing educational access, the program is also designed to help relieve the critical shortage of healthcare workers in rural Kansas, particularly diagnostic medical sonographers trained to perform ultrasound testing, says Newman University President Kathleen S. Jagger, Ph.D. By providing students the opportunity to gain high-demand skills locally, Kansas officials hope to retain talent while ensuring young people pursuing healthcare careers can succeed at home.
About Newman HERE
Founded in 2024 by Newman University, Newman HERE has enabled 27 students to complete bachelor's degrees, with 55 more currently enrolled at Garden City, Dodge City Community College, and Seward County Community College. Major offerings include Agricultural Technology Management, Applied Artificial Intelligence, Business, Computer Science, Computer Science with a focus in Cyber Security, Data Science, Game Development, Certified Financial Planning, Nursing, Teaching, and now Sonography. This scaling model demonstrates that local delivery of four-year credentials is both effective and sustainable for communities historically underserved by traditional university infrastructure.
For more information, please visit https://gcccnewman.com/
Contact Info:
Name: Clark Schafer
Email: Send Email
Organization: Newman University
Address: 3100 McCormick , Wichita, Kansas 67213, United States
Website: https://newmanu.edu/
Release ID: 89196534