Online Education at Mississippi College Achieves Strong Ranking

Mississippi College online programs continue to expand and gain more national visibility.

In September, MC’s commitment earned the Baptist university top billing as the home of the best online learning program in the Magnolia State. TheBestSchools.org selected MC for that honor based on factors such as academic excellence, courses and degree programs, faculty strengths and reputation.

Schools with the best online programs in their states, the survey said, included the University of Arkansas, Auburn, Penn State, Missouri, the University of Memphis, South Carolina, Oregon State and Liberty University based in Virginia.

MC offers online education in such areas as business, nursing, health administration, communication, paralegal studies, and the administration of justice, including Homeland Security. In the Spring of 2015, MC will launch a new online degree program, a master’s in health informatics. The programs offered can be an online degree or a hybrid that combines online with traditional classes.

Graduate School Dean Debbie Norris applauds MC’s online approach to better serve an increasing segment of the population seeking an education that’s more convenient.

“Although considered a traditional university, Mississippi College’s online degree programs are growing,” Norris said. “But this growth is tempered with the same type of personal service within our Christian caring environment.”

The academic outcomes at MC, she added, are the same for each type of program – traditional or online. Classes are not all taking place as students click away on computer screens. Students are seeing a growing blend of both online classes and those bringing them to lecture halls or seminar discussions on the Clinton campus.

More than two years went into careful planning, testing and curriculum assessment before the Mississippi College Communication Department began its online launch in January 2011.

Since then, the online efforts have been refined “into one of the very best programs available in the online education environment,” said Communication Department Chairman Cliff Fortenberry.

 “As a result, our students have successfully completed their education and moved into their work and graduate education environments,” Fortenberry said. “We anticipate future graduates will be as successful.”

In the Communication Department, students may earn an undergraduate degree, and complete a 31-hour master’s as well.

MC’s new online ranking, says School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo, “validates the careful design and implementation of our online business program in a way that ensures our online students receive a rich and vibrant learning experience.”

With many students juggling careers and family responsibilities along with academic studies, online classes, Eduardo said, provide “a significant level of flexibility.”

Mary Jean Padgett, dean of the School of Nursing, says the online RN-BSN completion track has been “very helpful to registered nurses who are employed in a variety of agencies and working a wide variety of shifts.”

It gives students an opportunity to work towards degrees in their own homes at times that work well for them, Padgett said. “It has made it possible for many students to complete their baccalaureate degrees who would have been limited to attending classes in a campus setting.”

Mississippi College's diverse menu of online degrees programs is a good fit for graduate students like Ivana K. Williams.

A 2010 MC business graduate, Williams is a 26-year-old mom with three young children. Hoping to teach at a community college, the Brandon resident seeks a master's in social science with an emphasis in Homeland Security. "With online, I don't have to find baby sitters,'' Ivana says. "I have more flexibility to get an education.''

For more information, go to the article titled “The Best Online College in Each of America’s Fifty States” by TheBestSchools.org. The link is  

http://www.thebestschools.org/features/best-online-college-in-each-american-state/.