Now through October 31, we're waiving application fees for all domestic freshman and transfer applicants!
*Common app code: Central27
Renewed focus on online programs, micro-credentials and workforce partnerships
Central Michigan University today announced a new chapter for CMU Online, the university’s home for online education, with a sharpened focus on serving online learners, working adults and employers
Formerly known as Innovation and Online, the unit now known as CMU Online builds on a history of providing flexible education that dates back to 1971. For more than 50 years, CMU has expanded access to education beyond its Mount Pleasant campus, evolving alongside the needs of students and employers.
Today, that work continues under the CMU Online name with an increased focus on flexible online degree programs, a fully customizable bachelor’s degree, new micro-credentials, and workforce training.
“We’re focused on meeting today’s learners wherever they are,” said Kaleb Patrick, vice president of CMU Online. “This new chapter is a clear commitment to creating programs and support systems for students’ real lives, real careers and real ambitions.”
The renewed focus comes on the heels of sustained growth. Over the past three academic years, CMU Online has grown new student enrollment by nearly 19%, with year-over-year growth accelerating each year. The university aims to build on that trajectory through its continued investment in online learners and programs.
At the center of CMU Online’s expanded portfolio is the new Bachelor of Applied Science, a degree program designed to adapt to each learner’s needs and goals. The program allows students to apply eligible professional experience and previous college credit toward completing a bachelor’s degree.
Students can customize their programs with concentrations in high-demand skill areas, earning undergraduate certificates as they complete each concentration. The approach gives students opportunities to build stackable credentials they can share with employers before completing their degrees.
The program is delivered fully online, offering flexibility for students balancing education with careers and other responsibilities.
“The Bachelor of Applied Science reflects exactly the kind of innovation we want to see across our online portfolio,” said Paula Lancaster, CMU provost and executive vice president. “It gives students credit for what they already know and have done, and it builds a degree around their goals and needs instead of asking them to fit into ours.”
CMU Online is also introducing a new lineup of digital badges and micro-credentials, giving working professionals another way to develop skills for today’s workplace.
“Not everyone can put life on pause to go back to school. Our digital badges mean they don’t have to,” said Alexandra Bohnsack, director of noncredit and alternative enrollment at CMU Online. “These focused credentials let learners build skills in the time they have available.”
Delivered entirely online, most badges can be completed in 12 hours or less. Courses cover competencies such as leadership, artificial intelligence, and communication.
“Every CMU Online digital badge is stackable toward something bigger,” Bohnsack said. “When a learner completes three badges in a particular subject, they’re awarded a digital certificate.”
Badges and certificates can be added to a learner’s resume or LinkedIn profile, giving participants a way to demonstrate continued professional development and newly acquired skills.
CMU Online is also expanding its work with employers in Michigan and beyond. The university partners directly with organizations to develop customized workforce training around specific skills and organizational needs. Employees at many partner organizations also receive tuition incentives to pursue a CMU degree.
“When an employer comes to us with a skills gap, we don’t just hand them our course catalog and hope something fits,” said Rob VanDorin, executive director of business and community outreach at CMU Online. “We bring together resources from across CMU to build the training they actually need, and we work on a timeline that responds to the needs of their business – not the typical pace of higher education.”
Brose, a global mechatronics manufacturer, is among the organizations partnering with CMU Online to support workforce development through educational opportunities and tailored training.
“A partnership like Brose is a great example,” VanDorin said. “We took the time to understand their production floor and Brose’s employees before we even started building training. That led to a learning experience their team can put into use immediately.”
As workforce needs evolve, CMU Online aims to serve as a responsive partner for organizations seeking education and training without having to develop programs and infrastructure on their own.
CMU Online continues to grow Central Bound, a dual-admission partnership initiative that gives community college students a clear, supported pathway toward a CMU bachelor’s degree.
“Our first cohort at Lansing Community College is thriving,” said Joshua Adams, director of the Central Bound program. “When you remove barriers between where students start and where they want to go, enrollment follows. This is about centering students, not institutions.”
The program is planned to grow to six partners by 2030, including Muskegon Community College, Mid Michigan College, North Central Michigan College, Kirtland Community College and Bay de Noc Community College, in addition to Lansing Community College.
“Sustainable growth happens when you build around student success, not around what’s easiest for the system,” Adams said.
Together, these efforts represent the next stage in CMU’s longstanding commitment to serving learners beyond the traditional college experience.
Since 1973, CMU has adapted its educational offerings to meet students where they are. CMU Online continues that work by focusing on flexible, career-connected opportunities for working adults, transfer students, lifelong learners and employers.
From customizable bachelor’s degree pathways and stackable credentials to community college and employer partnerships, CMU Online is building on more than five decades of experience while adapting to what today’s learners need.
The name is new. The commitment to flexible education is not.
