Online Program
Since the first admissions cycle, the online program has maintained a high offer acceptance rate, 91% of admission offers resulted in enrollments across the five cohorts. We attribute this success to a personal and high-touch admission process, which allows prospective students to build rapport with current students, faculty members, and staff early on in the admissions pipeline.
The diversity of online students has been a salient trend across all cohorts. Underrepresented minority students – those that self-identify as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino/a, and American Indian or Alaska Native – make up 34.78% of enrolled students. Including Asian/Asian American students, the percentage rises to 49.57% of enrolled students that identify as non-white. The online program has consistently enrolled veteran, National Guard, and Reservists at a rate of around 15% of total enrollees. Efforts to continue reaching diverse candidates will stay at the forefront of recruitment.
In addition to the traditional August (fall semester) start date, since the program was established we have opened up enrollment during the Spring and Summer semesters, which allows for three different acceptance periods. Based on previous analysis of admissions data, prospective students are looking for a quick turnaround from application to start date. The addition of two more starting points allows the online program to provide the necessary flexibility to prospective students.
To stay competitive with other online program offerings, a "little c" certificate program is currently in its creation phase with an optimistic plan to launch in Fall 2020. We plan to offer three different HR certificate programs: Fundamentals of Human Resources, Compensation Best Practices and Human Resources Management. All three certificate programs include courses out of our current Online MHRIR program, and is meant to serve as a pipeline to our online degree. The certificate will allow for all courses taken to be transferred into the Online MHRIR program. Discussions surrounding expanding online course offerings to include elective options as well as multiple section options for a few core classes are in progress.
The first annual Online MHRIR gathering will occur in March 2020 in Chicago, IL. This gathering will be an optional opportunity for our online students to meet in person and engage with one another informally. The visit will also include several employer site visits with MHRIR alumni along with an alumni happy hour to connect our online students with alums within the Chicagoland area.
91%
of all admission offers resulted in enrollments across the five cohorts.
Underrepresented minority students—those that self-identify as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino/a, and American Indian or Alaska Native—make up 34.78% of enrolled students.
March 2020
Date for the first annual Online MHRIR gathering in Chicago, Illinois.