The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) has announced a new collaborative initiative with Baylor University’s Moody School of Education Professional Online Learning unit that expands graduate education opportunities for OLC members working in online, blended, and digital learning environments.
This initiative creates a defined pathway for OLC members—many of whom have extensive professional experience and credentials in digital education—to pursue select online advanced graduate credentials at Baylor University, a nationally recognized R1 institution known for academic excellence, values-driven leadership, and innovation in online education. The collaboration reflects a shared commitment to advancing quality online teaching and learning through both professional practice and academic scholarship.
Advancing Professional Learning into Graduate Credentials
Founded in 1999, OLC has long served as a global community of leaders and innovators dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning. Through conferences, workshops, webinars, certificate programs, and practitioner scholarship, OLC supports online education professionals at every stage of their careers.
Through this new alignment, OLC members may apply their professional learning toward graduate-level study within Baylor University’s Moody School of Education, creating a more seamless connection between professional development and academic advancement.
“We see this collaboration as a natural extension of Baylor’s commitment to serve working professionals,” said Dr. Laila Sanguras, Chair of Professional Online Learning in the Moody School of Education. “OLC members bring a wealth of advanced, practice-based expertise, and our Professional Online Learning programs are intentionally designed to value, recognize, and build upon that experience in rigorous and meaningful ways.”
Benefits Available to OLC Members
Through this initiative, OLC members are eligible for a range of benefits when applying to select fully online graduate programs within Baylor’s Moody School of Education, including:
- Tuition scholarships
- A 10% tuition scholarship for:
- Eligibility for Baylor’s 8% Priority Enrollment Scholarship for the award-winning EdD in Learning and Organizational Change
- A 10% tuition scholarship for:
- Waived graduate application fee
- Graduate transfer credit consideration
- Opportunities to earn graduate credit through Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)
These benefits are designed to reduce barriers to graduate education while honoring the extensive expertise many OLC members already bring to the field.
Recognizing Professional Expertise Through Prior Learning Assessment
A key component and particularly innovative feature of Baylor’s Professional Online Learning programs is its Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) process, which allows students to seek graduate credit for learning acquired through professional practice, structured training, and recognized certifications.
For OLC members, the PLA process may shorten the time to degree completion and reduce total program cost. Examples of potential alignment include:
- Completion of the OLC Advanced Certificate in Online Teaching may provide a strong foundation to pursue PLA credit for EDC 6372: Online Teaching and Learning
- Completion of the OLC Advanced Instructional Design Certificate may support PLA applications for:
- LDT 5310: Learning Design and Emerging Technologies (master’s level)
- LDT 5311: Learning Design and Applied Multimedia Production (master’s level)
- EDC 6360: Instructional Design (doctoral level)
PLA recognizes that professional learning—when rigorous, applied, and reflective—can meet graduate-level outcomes.
“This approach honors the deep, applied learning that professionals have already achieved,” said Dr. Chris Zakrzewski, Baylor University Director of Learning Design and Learning Design and Technology Program Architect. “Our goal is to make graduate education more accessible, efficient, and responsive to the realities of today’s educational workforce.”
About Baylor University’s Professional Online Learning Programs
Baylor University’s Moody School of Education offers fully online graduate programs designed for working professionals across education, business, nonprofit, healthcare, military, and government sectors. Programs emphasize leadership, instructional design, organizational change, and applied scholarship, with strong faculty mentoring and comprehensive student support.
The EdD in Learning and Organizational Change, one of Baylor’s flagship offerings, received the 2022 Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) Program of the Year Award, recognizing its excellence and impact. Baylor University is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the nation’s top learning communities and was named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Best Colleges for Future Leaders.
Supporting the Path from Practice to Scholarship
The OLC and Baylor initiative reflects OLC’s continued focus and commitment to supporting members as both practitioners and scholarly leaders. By strengthening connections between professional learning and graduate education, the collaboration expands opportunities for OLC members to deepen expertise, pursue advanced credentials, and contribute to the future of digital learning.
Additional information about Baylor’s graduate opportunities available to OLC members can be found through Baylor University’s Moody School of Education Professional Online Learning programs.
