Recognizing the growth in job opportunities in the health care sector, the University of Rhode Island’s College of Continuing Education offers a bachelor’s degree in general studies in health services administration. Graduates of the program would be candidates for entry-level or mid-level managerial and supervisory positions in skilled nursing facilities, adult daycare centers, home health care agencies, hospitals, clinics, laboratories, physicians’ offices, governmental and regulatory agencies and health plans. Graduates could also work in related industries, such as research and development, pharmaceuticals and the insurance or computer industry.

The program is available to students who have had no experience in the health field and also to those employed in health care who are looking for advancement. The major would also be appropriate for those in an allied health field who are looking for a bachelor’s degree program to complement a two-year degree. There is a reciprocal agreement between URI and the Community College of Rhode Island, which allows CCRI graduates in allied health care fields to transfer in up to half the credits needed for the bachelor’s degree. The continuing education college, located in Providence, is now enrolling for the spring semester, which begins Jan 21. Visit Thinkbiginprov.com for more information or call (401) 277-5162 for an appointment with an adviser.

Tourists, employees of travel agencies and individuals working in import/export businesses are among those who could benefit from a new five-week course, Italian for Business and Travel, to be offered this spring by the Community College of Rhode Island. Students will be taught common verbal expressions for basic communication involving lodging, shopping, food and transportation, and also learn how to write familiar, formal and business letters. The course also will provide information about the country’s important monuments and about Italian cities, customs and traditions.

No prerequisites are required for this one-credit course, which will be held on Wednesdays from 7 to 9:30 p.m. from March 23 to April 22 at the Knight Campus in Warwick. Registration is under way. For more information, visit www.ccri.edu/foreignlang/newcourses.shtml.

Graduates of the University of Rhode Island get a good return on their investment, according to SmartMoney magazine. The publication’s January issue reports that the university ranked 15th in a nationwide study which looked at what graduates from 50 of the most expensive four-year colleges earn in their early and mid-careers and then factored in what they paid for their schooling. Using this two-pronged approach, URI is a “far better value” than all the private institutions in the survey, the magazine reported.

URI was the highest ranked institution in New England, followed by the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) at 18; the University of New Hampshire at 23; and the University of Vermont at 42. Harvard is ranked 25th, Princeton 20th, and Dartmouth 21st. The University of Georgia placed highest.