{"id":28822,"date":"2020-06-24T13:24:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T18:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=28822"},"modified":"2020-06-24T13:24:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-24T18:24:29","slug":"austin-peay-state-universitys-graduate-enrollment-continues-to-grow-even-during-covid-19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2020\/06\/24\/austin-peay-state-universitys-graduate-enrollment-continues-to-grow-even-during-covid-19-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Peay State University\u2019s graduate enrollment continues to grow, even during COVID-19 Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – Last year Austin Peay State University (APSU) broke the 1,000 graduate student barrier and current enrollment looks even more promising. APSU is experiencing higher graduate student enrollment compared to last year at this time.<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay State University math class last year on campus. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

As of June 23rd, graduate student enrollment for the fall is up about 7% across the university, and some programs are showing larger upticks.<\/p>\n

APSU\u2019s computer science and quantitative methods graduate program, for example, is up about 10%.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this COVID-19 crisis, some people are making good use of their time working remotely to earn their graduate degree,\u201d said Dr. Chad Brooks, dean of the College of Graduate Studies. \u201cDelivering classes online is nothing new for APSU. Austin Peay State University has been providing an excellent online education for more than a decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graduate enrollment also is up about 15% in the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, 13% in the College of Business, 5% in the College of Education and 7% in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are optimistic that these numbers show interest is strong for our graduate programs at Austin Peay State University,\u201d Brooks said. \u201cAnd we hope they\u2019ll stay strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fall enrollment numbers tend to fluctuate through the summer and will not become official until November. Graduate enrollment for the summer sessions already underway is also up 7% for the university.<\/p>\n

\u2018The program is COVID-resistant\u2019<\/h3>\n

One area at Austin Peay that has shown growth in recent years \u2013 and during the pandemic \u2013 has been the university\u2019s computer science and quantitative methods master\u2019s program (CSQM), which offers five concentrations in areas such as data management, predictive analytics, cybersecurity, mathematical finance and math instruction.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons the program continues to draw students \u2013 even during a pandemic \u2013 is careers in these fields are adaptable and resistant to crisis, said Dr. Samuel Jator, chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, who runs the CSQM program in collaboration with the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology (CSIT).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program is resistant to COVID-19 Coronavirus whether it\u2019s in internships or it\u2019s in jobs, the program is COVID-resistant,\u201d Jator said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Leong Lee, CSIT chair, agreed: \u201cThese are skills people need during a pandemic. All five of our concentrations are in demand during the pandemic. Our students can work from home. They can stay online.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[470center]<\/p>\n

\u2018Applications continue to come in\u2019<\/h3>\n

The graduate enrollment numbers are good across the university, and Lee thinks they\u2019ll get even better.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur graduate program is having an increase, and it will continue to increase because applications continue to come in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ramanjit Sahi, coordinator for the mathematical finance concentration in CSQM, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have seen an increase in domestic students, which I was hoping for,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m also seeing increases in the mathematical finance concentration, especially from the military and business students who have an accounting or finance degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now we have students in predictive analytics and mathematical finance who are going out in big-name places, increasing the presence of our university and our department,\u201d she added. \u201cWe are making a presence in the community and outside Tennessee. We are becoming a presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The APSU College of Graduate Studies has received nearly 400 more applications (for summer and fall terms) this year than at this time last year, Brooks said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[470center]<\/p>\n

Tailoring programs to student needs<\/h3>\n

\u201cAustin Peay State University\u2019s recent graduates are thriving, landing jobs at places such as FedEx, IBM, Mattel and Goldman Sachs,\u201d said Dr. Matthew Jones, graduate coordinator for the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. APSU also is placing students in prominent internships in companies like Nissan, Dell, Intel and the Tennessee Department of Treasury.<\/p>\n

\u201cJob opportunities are really there, and the salaries are good,\u201d Jones said. \u201cOur students can compete. They can complete their degrees online while they\u2019re waiting this thing out, and they can still go to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current 10-year outlook for job growth in sectors like computer and information systems manager is really promising with an anticipated increase of 11% based on data provided by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Also, these sectors pay very well with master\u2019s level graduates able to earn more than $100,000 (2019 median pay was $122,840 for computer and information research scientists).<\/p>\n

Four of the five CSQM concentrations are offered online, and the fifth (mathematical finance) will go online next spring, but students also have the flexibility to choose on-campus or hybrid classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause our program is so adaptable, looking at the needs of our students, we can tailor it to their needs,\u201d Sahi said. \u201cWe give them leadership qualities, and we also give them the opportunity to go in a different direction. They can do what they need to become more marketable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones shared a saying popular among data professionals: \u201c\u2018Statisticians and data scientists can play in everyone\u2019s backyard.\u2019 You can go to work in finance on Wall Street for a while, and if you get bored of that, you can go into biotech or just about anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee added, \u201cThe world is unpredictable, but we can predict that computer science and math will be here for the next 30 or 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[470center]<\/p>\n

To learn more<\/h3>\n

To learn more about pursuing a graduate degree or certificate at Austin Peay State University, go to www.apsu.edu\/grad-studies<\/a><\/p>\n

To learn about what programs are offered 100% online at APSU, visit www.apsu.edu\/programs\/online.php<\/a><\/p>\n

To learn more about master\u2019s degrees in computer science and quantitative methods, visit https:\/\/www.apsu.edu\/csci\/masters_degrees\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clarksville, TN – Last year Austin Peay State University (APSU) broke the 1,000 graduate student barrier and current enrollment looks even more promising. APSU is experiencing higher graduate student enrollment compared to last year at this time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[23,4640,5430,5465,34646,8199,616,262,15716,512,825,34581,34634,30049,5232,8346,24710,10436,34780,34781,2201,34642,22426,4693,28599],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-7uS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28822"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28823,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28822\/revisions\/28823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}