Concordia vaults to top-100 ranking for U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs for master's degrees in education

Seward, Neb. (01/09/2018) — Concordia University, Nebraska has been ranked no. 99 by U.S. News & World Report for the 2018 "Best Online Education Program," an increase of 50 spots from last year and 77 places since 2016.

Concordia Master of Education programs have held accreditation through the National Council for Accreditation for Teacher Education (NCATE) since their inception in 2011 and are now accredited by the Council for the Accreditation for Educator Preparation (CAEP).

"Over the past two years the program directors for the Master of Education programs, instructional designers, core faculty, student services representatives, enrollment specialists, and myself have sought continuous improvement on every aspect of the student experience from initial enrollment to graduation," said Jonathon D. Moberly, dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Adult Education. "As a result, we now deliver an improved online student experience that is more engaging and more student-centric than ever before."

For the 2018 edition of the Best Online Graduate Education Programs rankings, U.S. News ranked schools based on five general categories:

• Student engagement: Quality online graduate education programs grant aspiring teachers and educational administrators opportunities to readily interact with their instructors and classmates. In turn, instructors are not only accessible and responsive, but they are also tasked with helping to create an experience rewarding enough that students stay enrolled and complete their degrees in a reasonable amount of time.

• Student services and technology: Programs that incorporate diverse online learning technologies allow greater flexibility for students to take classes from a distance. Outside of classes, strong support structures provide learning assistance, career guidance and financial aid resources commensurate with quality campus-based programs.

• Admissions selectivity: Student bodies entering with proven aptitudes, ambitions and accomplishments can handle the demands of rigorous coursework. Furthermore, online degrees that schools award judiciously will have greater legitimacy in the job market.

• Faculty credentials and training: Strong online programs employ instructors with academic credentials that mirror those of instructors for campus-based programs, and they have the resources to train these instructors to teach distance learners.

• Peer reputation: A survey of high-ranking academic officials in education helps account for intangible factors affecting program quality that are not captured by statistics. Also, degrees from programs that are well respected by academics may be held in higher regard among employers.

For more information about the awards and recognition Concordia has received, visit cune.edu/points-of-distinction.

About Concordia University, Nebraska

Concordia University, Nebraska, founded in 1894, is a fully accredited, coeducational university located in Seward, Nebraska, that currently serves more than 2,700 students. Concordia offers more than 100 undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in an excellent academic and Christ-centered community that equips men and women for lives of learning, service and leadership in the church and world. For more information, visit cune.edu.

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