Stratford University, a Virginia public benefit corporation, is a U.S. higher educational institution founded in 1976. Stratford specializes in adult education, providing placement assistance for students and graduates. It delivers online, classroom, and blended online/classroom programs.
Stratford University is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia and has campuses in Virginia (Alexandria, Falls Church, Woodbridge, Newport News, Virginia Beach, and Richmond), Maryland (Baltimore ), and India (New Delhi ). The majority of the student body is non-traditional and works full-time while attending school. Stratford's international student body represents over thirty countries.
The Stratford campus in India is a Joint Venture with the Modi Group, created to offer residential American degrees in India. The legal name of the Indian Joint Venture is Modi Stratford Education Management (MSEM), Pvt. Ltd. The Modi Stratford Foundation, a wholly owned non-profit subsidiary of MSEM, delivers the academic programs in India as an accredited campus of Stratford University.
In 2010, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and Computerworld reported that the Stratford University has a larger number of F-1 Visa students receiving post-graduate Optional Practical Training (OPT) STEM extensions (727) than any other school in the US, with twice the combined total of the entire Ivy League. In 2012, Computerworld again reported that Stratford had more OPT STEM extension approvals than any other school in the US.
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Academic programs
Stratford University awards graduate and undergraduate degrees in a number of disciplines including business administration, computer information systems, health sciences, nursing, culinary arts, and hotel management. Online, residential, and blended programs are available. All online and blended courses use the Stratford online Moodle platform hosted in Stratford's data center.
The table below lists all programs and indicates which are available online.
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Awards
Dr. Richard R. Shurtz II, Stratford president, won the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award in Greater Washington for the Government/Education Services category. Stratford University was ranked as one of the Top 100 Graduate Degree Producers for All Disciplines in 2009 by Diverse Education.
In 2015,The PeaceJam Foundation's 'One Billion Acts of Peace' campaign awarded its first annual Hero Award to Stratford University for Best University Act. PeaceJam judges "recognized Stratford University as a true agent of change in helping to solve some of the biggest global issues around the world." Stratford University was one of only five worldwide recipients.
In 2016, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker presented Stratford University with the President's "E" Award for Exports at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The President's "E" Award is the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports. The 'E' Awards noted Stratford University's dedication to providing quality education to students around the world, particularly its investment in language training programs.
Continuing education programs
Stratford University offers a number of non-credit continuing education and professional development courses.
- Event Management Certificate Program
- Culinary Workshops
- Certification Courses including Oracle, MSCE, .Net Framework, Cisco, Linux, and computer security-related topics for students and IT professionals.
Programs for military personnel
Stratford University has established a number of programs to help US military and former-US military personnel complete their education.
- Stratford is recognized by the Veterans Administration as a military-friendly institution and a member of the Yellow Ribbon Program.
- Stratford has programs to assist military students on Tuition Assistance (TA) to eliminate out-of-pocket tuition expenses.
- Stratford is a member of the DoD Servicemembers Opportunities Colleges (SOC) Consortium, and the Concurrent Admissions Program (ConAP).
- Transfer credits are accepted from AARTS, SMART, CCAF,ACE, DANTES, CLEP exams, as well as from other SOC colleges and universities.
- Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is used to grant credit for military experience and training programs.
- Stratford is approved for the training of veterans, reservists, and other eligible persons under US Code, Title 38 (Veteran's Benefits), including Chapter 30 (Active Duty), Chapter 31 (Veterans with Service-Connected Disabilities), Chapter 32 (Post-Vietnam Era Educational Assistance), Chapter 33 (Post-9/11 Educational Assistance), and Chapter 35 (Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance), as well as, Title 10 (Armed Forces), including Chapter 1606 (Selected Reserve Educational Assistance), and Chapter 1607 (Reserve Educational Assistance).
Acquisitions
Stratford University signed a letter of intent for an affiliation with Baltimore International College (BIC) on August 12, 2011. The university has received approval from the Maryland Higher Education Commissionand Baltimore officially became an additional location of Stratford University on December 1, 2011.
Stratford University signed a memorandum of understanding with Sojourner-Douglass College (SDC) on April 2, 2015. This memorandum outlines a process through which SDC programs will transition to Stratford after June 30, 2015, the date that SDC loses it accreditation. This location will be renamed the Sojourner-Douglass Center at Stratford University.
Campuses
Stratford University, headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, has campuses in Virginia, Maryland and India. Stratford University's main campus is located in Falls Church, Virginia near Tysons Corner. It has a six additional US campuses in Alexandria, Virginia near Telegraph Road, Woodbridge, Virginia near Potomac Mills, in Richmond, Virginia near Short Pump, in Newport News, Virginia near Oyster Point, in Virginia Beach, Virginia near Town Center and in Baltimore, Maryland near the Inner Harbor. In 2009, the University opened two learning sites in New Delhi, India.
- Stratford has a main learning site and one satellite learning site in the New Delhi region. The main learning site is located in South Delhi. The satellite learning site is located in Gurgaon.
Supporting services
Stratford University offers a wide range of services to assist the students and faculty, some of which include:
- Stratford's Welcome Center offers a range of services including gym memberships, housing assistance, information about health insurance plans. Welcome Center personnel assist students with any non-academic problems which they may encounter while completing their degree. Student activities and events are organized by the Welcome Center year round.
- Stratford's International Student Office provides support for international students, including: admissions assistance; obtaining F-1/J-1 Visas; transferring from another school; securing housing; travelling within and outside the US; obtaining CPT/OPT employment authorization; and advice for securing an H-1 Visa.
- Stratford's Language Institute offers an academic English as Second Language (ESL) program to help international students enter a degree program.
- Stratford's Career Services Office provides placement assistance for students.
- Stratford's Academic Services provides tutoring and developmental mathematics and English to assist students academically.
- Stratford's Continuing Education Office offers many non-credit workshops and courses in business, health sciences, technology, culinary arts, and event management.
- Stratford's Food Services are managed by the School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts. The School of Culinary Arts offers fine dining to the public as part of its culinary curriculum. The School operates the Escoffier Dining Room, the Careme Dining Room, and the Library Cafe.
- Stratford's Media Office produces and broadcasts a weekly radio show, Tech Talk Radio, which is aired on WFED (1500 AM) each Saturday from 9 to 10 am EST. The show is streamed live over the Internet from the WFED home page. Audio files of the show and a podcast feed are posted each week to the Tech Talk Radio home page. The podcast is also available via iTunes. Tech Talk Radio first aired in January 2000 and has been previously broadcast on WMAL (630AM), WJFK-FM (106.7FM), WTWP (1500AM, 107.7FM), and WWWT (1500AM, 107.7FM) radio stations.
Accreditation and affiliations
Stratford University has been endorsed and/or accredited by a broad range of organizations and agencies.
- Stratford University was accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) to award through master's degrees. ACICS is still recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). On Dec. 12, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it no longer recognizes the ACICS as an authorized accrediting agency. The university is approved to receive Title IV funding under a provisional Program Participation Agreement (PPA) for 18 months while it is seeking a new federally recognized accreditor. It is provisionally certified by the Department of Education until June 12, 2018. Stratford University has submitted an application to SACSCOC, a regional accreditor, and ACCSC, a national accreditor, in response to this Departmental action.
- Stratford University is exempt from requirements of oversight to grant Associates, Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees by State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).
- Stratford's nursing program has been approved by the Virginia Board of Nursing and has received programmatic accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
- Stratford's medical assisting program has received programmatic accreditation from the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools.
- The Stratford University Language Institute is accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation.
- Stratford's culinary programs have received programmatic accreditation from the American Culinary Federation (ACF).
- Stratford is a member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council.
- Stratford is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
- Stratford is a member of the United States-India Educational Foundation.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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