UW's Cross wants 4-year school to handle online degree

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross wants to tweak his plan to merge the system's two- and four-year schools to bring online degrees under the auspices of a four-year institution.

The Board of Regents adopted a Cross proposal last month to make two-year schools regional branches of the four-years. The plan called for system administration to oversee an online degree program currently run by UW Colleges Online.

But UW staff wrote in a memo to the regents that the Higher Learning Commission says only institutions accredited as degree-granting authorities to offer such an online degree. System administration lacks such accreditation.