Concordia vaults to top-90 ranking for U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs for master's degrees in education

Seward, NE (01/15/2019) — Concordia University, Nebraska's online graduate education degree program has been ranked no. 89 by U.S. News & World Report for the 2019 "Best Online Education Programs," an increase of 10 spots from last year and 87 places since 2016.

"Every year more universities are realizing they need to be in the Online Graduate and Adult Education market to be able to survive in the future, thus causing this market to be among the most competitive in the world," said Dr. Jonathon Moberly, dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Adult Education. "Over the past three years, the College of Graduate Studies and Adult Education at Concordia Nebraska has implemented a strategic plan to not only differentiate ourselves in this ultra-competitive market, but to also allow us to do so in direct alignment with the university's mission and vision. The extensive work that has been done through new initatives directly relates to continuing to provide an experience that is both rewarding and life-changing for our students."

The College of Graduate Studies and Adult Education's strategic plan focuses on the targets of innovation, quality, adaptiveness, open communication, positive future, passion, student focus and Christ. By implementing initiatives that support this strategic plan, the College of Graduate Studies and Adult Education has experienced a 10 percent average increase in retention of students upon enrollment.

"This is fueled by a much more engaging experience for the students where they feel a stronger connection with the university even though they are online," Moberly said. "This stronger connection helps prepare them to both serve and lead in an impactful way upon graduation."

Examples of these initiatives that support the strategic plan include:

• Implementing career services and research sections into each course. The career services section provides an orientation to the career services that are offered for students, along with tutorials and resources for using their graduate degree to advance. The research section includes video tutorials, providing students an introduction into the research services available at Concordia's Link Library, along with specific tips for conducting research and synthesizing that research in writing efficiently.
  
• Development of a care team that meets monthly, where student services representatives and program directors meet to discuss students who are struggling academically, and work proactively to develop plans to get those students back on track to success.
  
• By the summer of 2019, every program in the College of Graduate Studies and Adult Education will have at least one course where students will be working within a community or directly with an organization where they will be applying their knowledge to truly serve and improve.

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).

For the 2019 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.
  
• Expert opinion: A survey of high-ranking academic officials in education helps account for intangible factors affecting program quality that statistics don't capture. Also, employers may hold in high regard degrees from programs that academics respect.
  
• Student excellence: Student bodies entering with proven aptitudes, ambitions and accomplishments can handle the demands of rigorous coursework. Futhermore, 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.

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

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