Just four years into a global partnership with Beacon Education, NAU Online is celebrating more than 1,000 graduates from the program as of Fall 2024. The virtual commencement ceremony for the graduates, who primarily reside in China, takes places Nov. 19.
The partnership between NAU Online and Beacon began in November 2020 and offers three online, competency-based degrees offered fully in Mandarin: master of computer information technology, master of science in computer science and master of organizational leadership.
“The students enjoy the one-on-one interactions they have with their faculty, and they really enjoy being able to work at their own pace and progress more quickly,” said Corrine McCawley, assistant vice provost for NAU Online. “The students are working professionals, and they really like that their professional experiences are such an asset in the program.”
In the NAU Online/Beacon program, students enroll in a six-month subscription and they can complete up to seven classes during that subscription period. That allows students to speed up the time it takes to finish or slow down depending on their needs and time available. The programs also are competency-based, letting students apply their work experience to their coursework.
That’s what drew Xiaobing Xu, a computer science student, and Chaoxing Liu, a project management student, to the Beacon PL program. Xu enrolled because he wanted the flexibility of online study while working full time.
“The program allows me to continue my education at an affordable price,” he said. “It also has given me a strong educational background in computer science and provided advanced knowledge in areas like parallel programming and AI.”
Before enrolling in Beacon, Liu realized that she liked her project management job but needed more study to fully realize that work. The online program was her answer.
“Through systematic learning and practice, I am able to better grasp the cutting-edge knowledge and techniques in the field of project management, further preparing me for my career,” she said. “I’m applying what I’ve learned to better explore the field of project management, apply the learned theories and methods in practical work and lay a solid foundation for future development.”
Online education is playing an increasingly pivotal role in preparing students to participate in the global economy, and NAU offers numerous programs designed to meet the needs of people already in the workforce along with other post-traditional learners, said Carmin Chan, vice provost of NAU Online. Since 1999, more than 25,000 alumni have achieved their educational goals through NAU’s online programs.
“NAU has a proud history as a pioneering leader in online and digital education for more than 25 years,” she said. “We are helping to make an NAU education a possibility for learners who would not have been able to access our campuses in a traditional classroom setting, and we’re finding that students throughout the world are hungry for these opportunities.”
Heidi Toth | NAU Communications
(928) 523-8737 | heidi.toth@nau.edu