by Karina Brady, Student Public Relations Writer
Cedarville University will award its 500th graduate degree during spring commencement May 4 at 10 a.m. in the Doden Field House.
“Five hundred is a significant number — a milestone in Cedarville’s journey,” said Dr. Janice Supplee, dean of graduate studies and vice president for marketing and communications. “That represents a significant number of people who have been equipped for vocational distinction and godly service through a graduate experience at Cedarville.”
This commencement will also celebrate the first graduating class of Master of Divinity (M.Div.) students.
— Janice Supplee
Cedarville’s first graduate program began in 2002 with a Master of Education. Now, the university offers Doctor of Pharmacy, Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Ministry, M.Div. and Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.) degrees as well as several graduate certificates. The graduate school currently serves nearly 500 residential and online students.
Both the MBA and M.S.N. offer specialized training options as part of their graduate degree programs. MBA students can complete tracks in business analytics, cybersecurity management, innovation and entrepreneurship, healthcare administration and operations management. M.S.N. students can earn degrees with a global public health nursing, family nurse practitioner or nurse educator emphasis. Two new focus areas, nursing leadership in healthcare improvement and pediatric nurse practitioner, will be added in fall 2019.
The Graduate School at Cedarville University is also innovating fresh approaches to earning a master’s degree. Beginning spring 2019, the Advanced M.Div. program started giving students a faster and even more affordable path into ministry by counting undergraduate credit hours in Bible, theology and ministry toward the required 61 credit hours. This Advanced M.Div. is one of 20 unique pathways to streamline students’ entrance into Cedarville’s graduate programs.
Looking ahead, Cedarville University plans to add other new graduate programs in the fields of healthcare and ministry, according to Supplee. These programs are pending the approval of the Higher Learning Commission.
For more information about Cedarville graduate programs, visit cedarville.edu/graduate.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,193 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including the Doctor of Pharmacy, Master of Business Administration (MBA), master’s in business analytics, master’s in cybersecurity, healthcare mba, mba in innovation and entrepreneurship, mba in operations management, pharmd/mba dual degree, M.S.N. family nurse practitioner, master’s in global public health, M.S.N. nurse educator, Master of Ministry, and Master of Divinity, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.