National Restaurant Association partners with Aspen University for online restaurant management degree

Building on its range of career-building training programs, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) has partnered with Aspen University on a new undergraduate degree in foodservice operations and management. This collaboration provides undergraduate degree-seeking individuals an affordable education that focuses on restaurant business administration and front-of-house operations. The NRA is committed to developing careers for the industry's nearly 13 million employees.

"The comprehensive restaurant operations and management degree at Aspen University was developed specifically to fit the workforce characteristics of our industry," Mike McCallum, NRA's chief strategy officer, said in a press release. "The degree is flexible, entirely online, very affordable, and incorporates the association's existing educational programs, including ServSafe and ManageFirst. By obtaining this degree, students and restaurant workers can build strong foundations for their foodservice careers in our industry of opportunity."

Employees at NRA member organizations receive a 50 percent discount on tuition and pay only $90 per credit hour when seeking a bachelors of science in foodservice operations and restaurant management at Aspen University. Additionally, federal financial aid is available for students who qualify.

Aspen will donate 15 percent of all collected tuition to the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) to support scholarships to students, professional development for teachers and mentorship.

The degree incorporates the NRA's well-established training programs and certifications--ServSafe Food Safety, ServSafe Alcohol, ManageFirst and the Foodservice Management Professional--transferred into the degree as credit, or earned as requirements of the degree program. Association member organizations with their own training programs will be able to submit their curricula to Aspen for evaluation of course credits.

Aspen University is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). The Accrediting Commission of the DETC is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency and is a recognized member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. For more information, visit www.restaurant.org/careers/education/schools/aspen or www.aspen.edu.