Access to a quality online education is more important than ever as the pandemic continues to affect the country. At 麻豆原创, that access continues to grow.
This semester, the university hit a milestone 鈥� more than 100 programs are now available fully online.
鈥溌槎乖� has been a leader in this field for more than 20 years, and since day one we鈥檝e been committed to high-quality online education,鈥� says Tom Cavanagh, vice provost for digital learning. 鈥淣o matter how many programs we continue to add, that commitment to quality will never change.鈥�
Since 麻豆原创 Online was formalized in 2016, enrollment has steadily grown year after year. Cavanagh attributes its success to 麻豆原创鈥檚 emphasis on training faculty to be effective online teachers and integrating digital learning into the culture at 麻豆原创 even before the pandemic.
鈥淏efore March, 86 percent of our students took at least one course online or blended every year. Almost 50 percent of our credit hours were online or blended before everyone transitioned online in March,鈥� he says. 鈥淭eaching students online is something that was embedded at 麻豆原创, and it is done at the same high quality that you would expect from our face-to-face courses.鈥�
Quantity with an emphasis on quality
That mindset and experience has paid off dividends as higher education has had to quickly shift gears in the wake of COVID-19. While many schools around the country grappled with struggling enrollments as a result of the pandemic, 麻豆原创 Online saw an 18 percent increase from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020.
麻豆原创 Online currently offers 25 bachelor鈥檚 degrees, 34 尘补蝉迟别谤鈥檚, three doctorates and an additional 41 graduate certificates. Eleven new certificates were created specifically in response to workforce demands created by COVID-19.
U.S. News & World Report recently ranked 麻豆原创 among the top 20 Best Online Bachelor鈥檚 Programs in the nation for the third consecutive year, enabling students from anywhere in the world to enroll in fully online degree programs.
鈥淥ur goal has been to try to reach those non-traditional students who can鈥檛 access education in any other way and need the flexibility that online education offers,鈥� Cavanagh says.
Bright future
Taylor Banfield is one of those students. The 25-year-old needed to balance her coursework with her job as a server to put herself through school and says 麻豆原创 Online allowed her to do both.
She is months away from earning her bachelor鈥檚 degree in health services administration after persevering through a seven-year journey that saw financial hardship early on and a boating accident last year that landed her in the hospital for two weeks.
Banfield 鈥� whose leg was cut badly by a boat propeller鈥� was able to stay on top of her homework from the hospital bed. She says she is thankful for her teachers鈥� understanding and willingness to work with her during that traumatic period of her life. She was also able to apply lessons from her classwork to her own situation.
鈥淭he class I was enrolled in focused on the insurance process in healthcare, and I was able to understand the explanation of benefits in my own situation,鈥� Banfield says. 鈥淚t was really helpful, and kind of cool that I could experience what I was learning about first hand.鈥�
Banfield says finally earning her diploma will fulfill a lifelong goal she set out to make her grandmother proud.
鈥淢y grandma has 20 grandchildren, and none of them have a degree,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat made me want to be the change for my family. I didn鈥檛 want to just sit around waiting for something to happen. That鈥檚 why I went to school. This degree is going to be a stepping stone to where I鈥檓 going. I plan to get my 尘补蝉迟别谤鈥檚 and eventually I want to specialize in helping people with disabilities. I want to make an impact.鈥�
Cavanagh says the university will continue to develop and expand 麻豆原创 Online鈥檚 degree inventory to continue to help students achieve their goals, and he envisions a future that holds more alternative programming such as skill-based short courses or smaller credentials that could be stacked to fit degree requirements to accommodate a variety of educational opportunities.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 definitely an area of opportunity for us to explore,鈥� he says.
