Berkeley

Patten University Offers Personalized Degree Programs for Working Adults

Published

12 years ago

January 23, 2014

Working students are the fastest growing part of the student population in the country because most people realize they need advanced credentials to create the life they want but cannot afford a traditional undergraduate or schooling experience.

Designing a program that meets the needs of these students is a major goal of Patten University in Oakland, which has become one of the fastest growing online universities, serving students in 38 states across the country, the majority from California, according to Dr. Thomas Stewart, president of the university.

About 37 million Americans start college and do not graduate. Too many of them stumble over the difficulties of going to school while supporting themselves and their families, says Stewart, who explains that Patten was founded to “create a university that addresses the needs of working adults.”

“If I’m a working adult, and I have a family, I can’t go to CAL,” he said, noting that 15 percent of Patten’s online students are over the age of 50. “Patten is designed to give you what you need.”

Dr. Thomas Stewart, President of Patten University

A native of Washington, D.C and raised in an urban community, Stewart understands that urban universities must fit urban realities.

He points to his own experiences. As an undergraduate, Dr. Stewart flunked out of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), but after serving in the military, he returned to the university to finish his bachelor’s degree and went on to gain his masters and doctorate from Harvard.

While the degrees from Harvard confer status, he said, the name of the institution does not matter at the end of the day. What is important is a person’s work ethic and the skills they are able to offer an employee.

“Assumptions are made from names,” he said. “There are over 4,000 universities. If you eliminate [schools] named after a state or after someone famous, most people can’t tell the name of 3,000 of them,” he said. “…People have to find what’s a good fit for them.”

Expanding rapidly, Patten has grown to a student population over 1,000 in its first 18 months. Stewart says that number will be 10 times as large by the end of the year.

He credits Patten’s success with its application of the “UNOW Model,” which allows students to pay as they go, offers personal coaching, works on a self-paced format and has voluntarily chose not to receive Title IV funding.

The school also uses an interactive teaching approach that monitors a student’s progress and readiness indicators that show a student’s understanding of the subject, identifying the areas they should look over again before taking a final exam.

As one of the most affordable private universities in the nation, Patten’s tuition is $5,000 for an academic year and includes all fees for books and other learning resources. While the university does not offer financial aid, it does offer financial options, strongly discouraging students from saddling themselves with student loans.

“Forfeit a cable bill for a year or two, and it could pay for you to go to college,” Stewart said.

In addition to its online courses, Patten offers campus-based degree programs for students who want a classroom experience,

Patten University is located at 2433 Coolidge Ave. in Oakland. For more information, www.patten.edu or call (510) 485-7820.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Related Topics:California City of Oakland Oakland online education online university Patten University post secondary education Thomas Stewart

Up Next

Council Recognizes East Bay Dragons, East Bay Warriors Youth Football

Don't Miss

Legislation to Teach Community College Courses in Jail

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Bay Area

UC Berkeley Named Top Public University in the U.S. and No. 7 in the World by ‘U.S. News’

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014. “A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Photo by Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley.

The 2026 Best Global Universities rankings evaluated 2,250 research institutions from more than 100 countries

By Lila Thulin

U.S. News & World Report has ranked UC Berkeley No. 7 in its 2026 list of the best global universities, which assesses more than 2,250 research institutions worldwide.

Berkeley also claimed the honor of top public university in the U.S.

Released on Monday, the list evaluates universities from more than 100 countries on 13 metrics such as global and research reputation (as reported by academics and peers) and number of highly cited scholarly papers.

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014.

“A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

The rankings also assess a university’s strength in various subject areas; these assessments are separate from U.S. News’ 2026 Best Graduate Programs rankings released in April.

This year, Berkeley was named in the top three nationally in seven subject areas – environment/ecology, ecology, water resources, physics, computer science, chemistry, and engineering – and in the top five for a total of 17 subjects. Subject rankings are based heavily on scholarly publications and citations as well as reputation.

In September, U.S. News also released its 2026 Best Colleges list, in which Berkeley was also named the No. 1 public institution among American universities.

That honor joins other accolades judging campus to be the best public university in the country, such as those from Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Arts and Culture

Farwest Region Deltas Celebrate Centennial With “September Breakfast” Honoring Vivian Osborne Marsh

The region was established in 1925 under the leadership of Vivian Osborne Marsh, who became its first Regional Director. Marsh was a pioneering scholar and civic leader, earning recognition as the first Black woman to receive both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in anthropology from UC Berkeley.

Published

10 months ago

September 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Farwest Regional Director, Kimberly Usher, Mayor Barbara Lee, US Representative Lateefah Simon, and Farwest Regional Representative, Radiya Ajibade. Photo courtesy of Farwest Regional Photographer Vicki P. Love.

By Antoinette Porter

Hundreds of members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and their guests gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union at the University of California, Berkeley, to mark the 100th anniversary of the sorority’s Farwest Region.

Marsh went on to serve as Delta Sigma Theta’s 7th National President, where she launched the sorority’s National Library Project to expand access to books in underserved Black communities in the South. During her presidency, the organization also became a prominent voice in the civil rights movement, lobbying Congress to pass anti-lynching legislation.

Bak in the Bay Area, Marsh devoted her career to advancing educational opportunities, mentoring young people, and strengthening community life. That commitment continues to shape the region, which supports initiatives in education, social justice, and economic development. Current projects include raising scholarship funds for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, voter education campaigns, and health and wellness programs.

A century after its founding, the Farwest Region of Delta Sigma Theta remains active across California and other western states, carrying forward Marsh’s vision of service and advocacy.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Arts and Culture

Cal Performances Presents Angélique Kidjo & Yo-Yo Ma in Sarabande Africaine at UC Berkeley Greek Theatre on Aug. 30

On Saturday, Aug. 30, the pair will debut the Bay Area premiere of Sarabande Africaine, joined by pianist Thierry Vaton, percussionist David Donatien, and special guest Sinkane. The program illuminates centuries of musical interplay between African traditions and Western classical forms, using the Baroque sarabande dance, and its African ancestor, the Congolese spirit dance Zarabanda, as a gateway to exploring the deep, interconnected roots of global music.

Published

10 months ago

August 25, 2025

Oakland Post

Angelique Kidjo and Yo-Yo Ma. Wikimedia photos.

By Carla Thomas

On Labor Day weekend two of the world’s most celebrated musicians and cultural ambassadors, Grammy Award–winning vocalist Angélique Kidjo and legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma join forces for an evening of music, history, and cultural dialogue at UC Berkeley’s historic Hearst Greek Theatre.

Both Kidjo and Ma have built careers not only as great performers but as passionate advocates for cultural understanding. Sarabande Africaine is as much a conversation about shared heritage as it is a musical performance, blending genres, geographies, and histories.

“Every day there are moments when all of us can feel we are on the inside of something and also when we feel we are on the outside of something,” said Yo-Yo Ma. “To be able to understand both at the same time and oscillate between the two gives us a larger perspective on the world.”

“If your mind is open, and there is no fear, it’s easier to listen, and to question yourself,” said Kidjo.

The upcoming performance is presented within Cal Performances’ Illuminations: “Exile & Sanctuary” series for the 2025–26 season. The production explores exile as more than just physical displacement, but a disruption in identity and belonging, while sanctuary represents both refuge and the creative space where new connections and communities can take shape.

Cal Performances’ Illuminations bridges performances with UC Berkeley’s academic research, pairing the arts with conversations about urgent global issues.

Kidjo’s continued partnership with Cal Performances includes her 2021–22 artist-in-residence, premiering her music-theater work Yemandja, set in 19th-century West Africa during the transatlantic slave trade.

She also participated in the Bias in Our Algorithms and Society panel alongside campus leaders like Jennifer Chayes, and joined the Black Studies Collaboratory for a dialogue on music, diaspora, and the world.

She has since returned to Berkeley for multiple performances, most recently in 2024 at Zellerbach Hall.

Yo-Yo Ma’s history with Cal Performances spans decades, beginning in 1997. One notable project includes the 2018 performance of Bach’s complete cello suites at the Greek Theatre, a testament to his devotion to creating “transformative concert experiences in iconic spaces.”

For tickets and more information, visit calperformances.org.