LYNCHBURG, TN (May 11, 2022) – Planning for college is easier with the right tools. Motlow State Community College built a custom, easy-to-use Program Finder that has become the College’s number one website resource. Motlow’s Program Finder is a robust, graphic-rich database of all the degrees, certificates, and learning options available at the College. It allows students to view, search, and compare various learning options and find the program that best meets their needs. It is one of the nation’s first college program search tools to incorporate credit and non-credit learning pathways into one search instrument.

Most four-year universities have some sort of program search tool, but very few have the depth of filtering options and breadth of helper content found in Motlow’s Program Finder. However, very few two-year colleges have this type of tool at all. Further, it is rare to find any college where degree plans are marketed side-by-side with short-term training and industry recognized certifications.

“Prospective students sometimes delay college aspirations because they are unsure what they want to study. The Program Finder makes college dreaming, degree planning, and interest exploration easily accessible. On the other hand, some prospective students already have a clear vision of what they want to study. So, they need to know if Motlow has the program to meet their needs. The Program Finder answers those questions quickly, too,” said Terri Bryson, vice president of External Affairs at Motlow. “The world is changing. There are great careers available through non-traditional pathways like one-year diplomas, modular training, and short-term certifications. We need to practice the inclusion we preach and work to make certain all students know about all of the options available to them. Our Program Finder includes every possible pathway because we strive to practice inclusion at every possible touchpoint.”

“The Program Finder at Motlow has approximately 4,400 visitors each week. While we were confident that there was a huge need for a tool like this, we are delightedly surprised at how quickly it has been adopted and how fast it has grown in utilization. Our results are what motivated us to tell our story. We want everyone to know how helpful it is,” said Bryson.

Motlow’s goal is to provide everyone in its service area with marketable skills. Whether a certificate, diploma, or degree, everyone should have access to life-changing learning, and this tool makes searching for opportunities simple. The Program Finder helps foster family discussions and fuels college-going aspirations.

The tool populates results in various ways to support viewing preferences. Users can choose list-view, where information is organized linearly, or image-view for users who prefer visual information. Two viewing options make the tool responsive to various learning styles, which is another way Motlow demonstrates its commitment to diversity and inclusion. The tool is also responsive and mobile friendly. These were accessibility features that were important to the team.

Find out more at motlow.edu.