SWTX Del Rio launches business office technology degree with online learning

Del Rio workers who need office skills without leaving their jobs or homes now have a local route through Southwest Texas College. The new Business Office Technology plan is built around flexible online learning and is aimed at students who want training for office and administrative work in hospitals, schools, small businesses, government offices and professional service firms across Val Verde County.

The program is structured as a ladder, not a single credential. Southwest Texas College offers a Level One Basic Certificate, a Level Two Advanced Certificate and a two-year Associate of Applied Science degree in Business Office Technology. The college says the program is designed for high-demand careers in a computerized workplace and points to job paths such as office and business management, executive assistant, computer project administration and medical office administration.

The first certificate is built to prepare students for Microsoft Office Specialist and Intuit QuickBooks certification, two credentials that can help a résumé stand out in a crowded office job market. The advanced certificate adds ethics, office management and an internship, while students seeking the A.A.S. must meet Texas Success Initiative requirements. Carlos Lopez is listed as division chair for Applied Sciences, and Bonny Herndon is listed as program coordinator and professor for Business Office Technology.

The new Del Rio option fits a broader shift Southwest Texas College has been making since at least September 2023, when it announced expanded online learning for rural Texans. At that time, the college described itself as a regional open-door institution serving an 11-county area stretching from the Texas Hill Country to the U.S.-Mexico border. Mark Underwood, vice president of academic affairs, said distance is a significant barrier and that the goal was to close the digital divide. For Del Rio and surrounding communities, that matters because online classes can make it easier to start or finish a credential while keeping a job or managing family responsibilities.

The college’s push into online career training also comes after a major Del Rio technical-education expansion announced in October 2024. That effort was backed by a $5 million special state appropriation and included plans for a 12,000-square-foot welding and construction science building and a 20,000-square-foot power line technician training pad. Connie Buchanan, vice president of the Del Rio campus, said at the time that the campus already offered nursing, cybersecurity and aviation. Business Office Technology now adds another workforce track that is tightly tied to local employers that need reliable office staff.

Southwest Texas College also works with Sul Ross State University International in Del Rio, giving students a path from associate-level work into upper-level coursework. For Val Verde County, the new degree adds one more way to turn local enrollment into local employment, with training that matches the day-to-day software and office systems employers already use.