Indiana Tech receives Quality Matters award for significant improvements to online learning

October 8, 2026

Indiana Tech has earned the “Making a Difference for Students” award from Quality Matters for positive, measurable improvements towards its online learning infrastructure resulting in higher student success rates.

The university is recognized in the “Outstanding Impact by a U.S. Higher Education Organization” category. This distinction honors institutions or groups that exemplify Quality Matters’ focus on learners by implementing its standards, practices and processes, and demonstrating impacts on learner outcomes.

Quality Matters is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the quality of online education through research-supported standards, professional development and course review processes that help institutions create effective and engaging learning experiences.

Indiana Tech has been a leader in online education since launching its first online courses in 2006. Over the past two decades, the university has built a reputation for delivering flexible, career-focused programs that serve learners across the country.

As Indiana Tech’s online offerings expanded and enrollment grew, university leaders recognized the need for a consistent, institution-wide approach to course design and student engagement. That commitment to continuous improvement led to the creation of the university’s online learning team and the adoption of Quality Matters standards. Since then, failure rates in courses that applied the standards fell dramatically, bringing the university’s overall failure rate down a massive 45 percent since 2020.

Mary Beth Graham is Indiana Tech’s director of online learning. Graham was brought on in 2020 because of her background in online education and experience with Quality Matters. She says the significance of the initiative’s impact cannot be overstated and is tied to Indiana Tech’s strategic goal of providing quality and relevant academic programs that prepare students for success in the workforce.

“Students are our ‘why,’ our reason for existing in the higher education space. It is our responsibility to provide our learners with opportunities for success and the support needed to help them succeed,” Graham said. “This initiative has improved student success and helped more learners achieve their educational and career goals. Simply stated: their success is our success.”

The work of the online learning team is ongoing, with the goal of ensuring all 450 of Indiana Tech’s online offerings are designed in accordance with Quality Matters standards by 2030. As of the fall 2026 semester, more than three-fourths of Indiana Tech’s online courses are adhering to them.

Indiana Tech President Dr. Karl Einolf praised the online learning team for making a “meaningful and measurable difference” for students by utilizing the organization’s standards in online course design and faculty mentoring.

“This team has worked to make our courses more engaging for students while implementing the latest technology to create a highly interactive and accessible online learning experience. The result is every bit as meaningful as what students would experience in a traditional classroom.”

The award will be presented during Quality Matters’ annual QM Connect Conference in Jacksonville, Florida, Oct. 26 through 28.