ACE President and CEO Shares How Cost, Quality and Customization Are Key to Successful Online Education

American College of Education®(ACE) President and CEO Geordie Hyland joined Raise the Line podcast host Derek Apanovitch for an episode about how ACE’s three priorities of flexibility, affordability and quality all contribute to student value. Specifically, Hyland highlighted how ACE has focused on student time and financial returns on investments since its founding.

Early in the discussion, Geordie described how meaningful differentiators for ACE are its practitioner-driven faculty model and choice not to accept Title IV funding. These elements help provide cost effective learning that prepares students for the work force with relevant skills. “Our programs and our tuition are not based upon how much debt we can access,” Hyland said. “It’s important to have curriculum that aligns closely with the needs of the career pathways of the students, so we have a real commitment to having a strong feedback loop from industries.”

Apanovitch asked Hyland about ACE’s expansion from only offering education programs to adding in nursing, healthcare, business and leadership programs. He particularly wanted to discuss the college’s approach to providing educational support for healthcare practitioners. “We’re focused on skill-based training,” Hyland said. “The real focus is on creating a quality experience that meets the needs of the healthcare and nursing sectors.”

Hyland went on to describe ACE’s credit for prior learning (CPL) model and how the college has a team dedicated to creating pathways for healthcare professionals to gain the skills they need. “This team supports our hospital system partnerships where we can work with a hospital system, evaluate their professional development and as appropriate, assign credit to it to help us map our programs and certificates to their career pathways,” Hyland said.

The conversation continued to unveil how ACE provides customized educational solutions for healthcare providers and how doing so allows the college to be more in tune with industry employer needs. Hyland explained that ACE is working to be a solution to nurse and healthcare worker shortages nationwide. Facilitating pathways with hospital systems is making career-advancing programs more accessible. Further, Hyland stated that these program pathways can also fill gaps in healthcare leadership.

Apanovitch and Hyland also discussed the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on online learning. “I think virtual reality and other rich experiences are going to become more widespread, and as online education continues to be more practical and engaging, there will be even more skills that can be learned effectively online,” Hyland said.

The podcast was concluded with a brief overview of ACE’s desire to spread its impact nationwide and how student feedback comes first in identifying the best ways to serve them.