Kent State Evaluation and Measurement was ranked No. 1 by Intelligent.com out of 364 programs that were considered. 

Evaluation and Measurement is a Master of Education Degree, which started in 1964 is offered through the college of Education Health Human Services (EHHS). This degree is offered in person and online. 

Intelligent.com is a website that does data research with a focus on students. 

According to their website, all of this is to provide students with resources to help them “successfully transition from college to the workforce,” by giving them access to databases of internship opportunities and example resumes. 

Intelligent.com compared 147 universities and colleges while having compared 364 programs from these colleges and universities. 

There were three key initial criteria these universities/colleges needed to meet for consideration in ranking, which were the universities/colleges needed to be nonprofits, be accredited and offer the programs fully online. 

Once the first three criteria are met, there were five evaluating factors that helped in creating the ranking: program strength, online readiness, return on investment, cost and student engagement. 

Intelligent.com created an algorithm that collected and analyzed rankings from college evaluators into one score to make comparing the universities easier.  

When comparing the universities, intellegent.com was able to consider the rigor of the course, as well as how regarded the professors are for the program and coursework. This helped with determining the programs strength. 

Program coordinator Jason Schenker said “I’m hoping this has some impact on enrollment.” 

Last semester, there were 13 graduate students enrolled in the program. 

Some of the alumni who have this degree have jobs working with schools as a program evaluator and one of the students currently works for the program itself. 

Jennifer Garretson, a graduate student in the program, is about halfway through the program. Garretson started pursuing her undergrad here at Kent State and transferred to The University of Akron. 

She works for the Financial Aid office as an enrollment services data specialist. Her boss recommended she look into the program. 

Before her boss mentioned the program, she had not been aware of the program, or what it was focused on. 

This program relates a lot to what Garretson does with enrollment data.

“It’s a good program to get into,” said Garretson.

Schenker said they are considering changing the name of the program to make it more recognizable. 

“There’s a lot of things people could do with a degree in our program,” said Dr. Schenker.

This program is not focused solely on education; it involves four areas of study: research methods, statistics, measurement and program evaluation. 

Garretson said she felt it offers flexibility, is related to higher education and statistics, which can be useful for many undergraduate focuses not just education, which she felt related to the work she is currently doing.

Her expected graduation is in Fall of 2022, but if more courses were offered over the summer she would be able to graduate in the summer of 2022. It would give people such as herself the opportunity to complete the program earlier. 

“I feel more graduate students would be willing to take summer classes,” Garretson said. 

Contact Morgan Kelly at [email protected].