Technical Requirements

Students need particular hardware and software to successfully participate in our online programs. The sections below list minimum computer hardware, software, and computer skills. Wherever possible, we avoid changing requirements for existing students, but please note that students with minimum hardware or software may need to make some upgrades before they complete the degree program.

Please note that these are minimum requirements, and that our online courses will work more effectively with higher capabilities.

Special Requirements

Our Nursing and Health Professions and Information and Science Technologies programs have specific technical requirements that may not be reflected below.

General Requirements

The following recommended specifications suit most our online programs (Nursing & IST excluded).

• Processor: Student computers should have a processor speed of at least 800 MHz. A processor of at least 1 GHz is recommended. 
• RAM: Computer memory is directly affected by how many programs are running at any given time. Running multiple applications at once slows a computer’s performance. Therefore, we recommend students have at least 512 Mb of RAM installed.
• Sound: A working sound card and speakers will be required. Some programs also require a headset & microphone. 
• Modem: A 56 Kbps modem can be used with our online programs. We do however recommend using a high-speed connection such as DSL or a cable modem. 
• Disk Drive: A CD-Rom drive is required for some software installation and program materials.
• Monitor: A monitor with a minimum 800 x 600 resolution is required. It is recommended that students have a monitor with at 1024 x 768 or more. 
• Disk Space: 2 GB of disk space is required for software installation.

Certain software components are required for full functionality of our online programs. To run an automatic system check, visit our browser compatibility page.

Internet Browser

Internet Explorer is recommended for viewing all online courses. The new release of Internet Explorer 8 has not yet been certified for use on our program.  If you have already downloaded and installed IE8, please follow these directions from Microsoft (click on Compatibility View on the left) on how to set your browser to Compatibility View, which will help correct some of the issues between IE8 and Blackboard.

Other internet browsers include Netscape, Firefox, and Safari.

Anti-Virus Software

Norton Anti-Virus is required and available to all students at no cost. Instructions for downloading the software can be found at our software download center.