Wellness education school
Tai Sophia Institute is launching a new masters program in the fall as it embarks on a 10-year growth plan to quadruple its enrollment.
The Laurel school will enroll 45 students in September in its masters in nutrition and integrative health. It may add a second batch of students in January if demand for the program continues, Tai Sophia Provost Judith Broida says.
The school already has enough applicants to fill the fall class without advertising it. The program will take a look at how food is an important component of wellness.
School officials are scouting Howard County for a commercial kitchen they can lease where students can prepare meals to support the program and others. Eventually, it would like to own its own building housing one.
That's not the only real estate it will need in the coming years. The school will require new buildings to house classrooms, administrative offices, and labs as it seeks to add more students.
Broida says she hopes to increase enrollment from 550 students to 2,000 over the next 10 years. That doesn't include students who will hopefully be enrolled online once it begins a distance learning program late 2012.
The school has launched six new programs in the last year and four new programs in the coming year.
These include a masters in integrative health coaching and graduate certificate programs in Chinese wellness systems, specialty acupuncture and Aryuvedic health.
As health care costs rise, people are looking for alternatives to western, allopathic medicine, Broida says.
Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Judith Broida