U.S. News and World Report recently published its first-ever Top Online Education Program rankings, and Central Michigan University (CMU) was rated among the best in the nation. CMU is ranked third for student services and technology for online graduate business programs, third for student engagement and accreditation for online graduate education programs, and tenth for student services and technology in online bachelor’s programs. The University also rated highly for engagement and accreditation in online graduate business programs and for student services and technology in online graduate
education programs.
The accolades are a reward for many years of hard work. CMU offered its first online class in 1994 and has continued to invest in and grow its online course offerings. CMU faculty matches innovation with workforce demand to break new ground in online degree programs. The University was the first to offer an online Doctor of Health Administration degree and the first to offer a Master of Business Administration degree with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) emphasis using SAP business management software. CMU is also one of the few to offer an online Master of Arts degree in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Charter School Leadership.
CMU’s Off-Campus & Online Programs offers over 100 online undergraduate courses and over 100 more online master’s and doctorate level courses. Students and faculty communicate asynchronously and synchronously throughout the course.
Central Michigan University’s Center for Instructional Design, Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, Learning Management Systems Instructional Support Team, Office of Information Technology, and Online Student Services Support Team have been instrumental in growing the online programs. Together they assist faculty with instructional design, audio/video production, presentations, graphic design, mobile devices, and learning technologies. They also assist students with acclimating to online course delivery and achieving academic success.
In addition to online courses, CMU offers programs at over 50 locations, including locations in Canada and Mexico. Courses at off-campus centers are scheduled on weekends and weeknights, providing convenience for students with full-time jobs and other responsibilities. The off-campus programs have helped students achieve their academic goals closer to home, with over 65,000 students as successful alumni.
Central Michigan University started offering courses in Metro Detroit in 1972, and the University now has locations in Auburn Hills, Clinton Township, Dearborn, Livonia, Southfield, Troy, and Warren to serve the Detroit area. Students can finish an undergraduate degree, a master’s degree, or complete a graduate certificate as well as other degree programs at one of these convenient locations. All of the Metro Detroit centers have high-speed connections to Merit’s fiber-optic backbone.
Other distance learning locations in Michigan include East Lansing, Flint, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, and Traverse City. Most of the centers offer bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. The locations in East Lansing, Flint, Grand Rapids, and Saginaw also feature high-speed connections to Merit’s fiber-optic network.
CMU began offering master’s degree programs in the Metro Atlanta, Georgia area in 1976, and the Metro Atlanta Center now offers several graduate certificates as well as master’s degree programs in administration, education, public administration, sports administration, and teacher leadership. The facility in the Shadowood Office Park features a student lounge with wireless Internet connectivity. CMU also has three other locations in Georgia—in DeKalb, Fayetteville, and in Augusta at Fort Gordon.
For over 40 years, Central Michigan University has educated active-duty military personnel and veterans. CMU started offering classes at Fort Myer in Virginia in 1971 and began offering classes at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio in 1972. The University has added many other locations since then, and now provides classroom instruction at 22 military locations across the United States. Graduate certificate programs and Master of Science in Administration degree programs are available at most military education centers.
CMU offers students with active duty and prior U.S. military service a military tuition discounted rate. In 2009, CMU’s Off-Campus and Online Programs began the U.S. Armed Forces Textbook Award, a textbook scholarship program for enlisted personnel, warrant officers, and commissioned officers in pay grades O-1 through O-3. The initiative awarded $150 textbook scholarships to 32 students in October 2011 and has helped a total of 86 students.
Central Michigan University has been repeatedly recognized as a military-friendly university by GI Jobs and Military Advanced Education magazines. Notable alumni include General Norton Schwartz, current Chief of Staff of the Air Force; Michael Orris, chief procurement officer for Rolls-Royce; Vivien Crea, Vice Admiral of the U.S. Coast Guard; and Scott Bernard, federal chief architect.
Since 1971, CMU has offered distance learning programs to provide students with a superior education close to home or work. Its rapidly expanding online programs have added even greater convenience and put the goal of a degree within reach for students around the world. CMU strives to provide the highest quality off-campus education, and the recent accolades from U.S. News and World Report reinforce the University’s uncompromising commitment to providing a preeminent student-centered learning experience for its students.
Central Michigan University’s main campus is located in Mount Pleasant. CMU educates more than 28,000 students annually and is the fourth largest public university in Michigan. The University has nearly 7,000 graduate students and has 200,000 living alumni around the world.
CMU has been a governing member of Merit Network since 1987. The Mount Pleasant campus has a 10 gigabit-per-second fiber connection to Merit’s backbone network as well as several diverse connections to the network for redundancy.