As one of Virginia Tech’s newest graduates—officially as of December 2015—Celeena Jefferson said she could not pass the opportunity to come to campus and partake in the graduate ceremony, with her husband and three children.

Ironically, it also marks the first day she has ever stepped on campus.

A graduate of the master of information technology (MIT) program offered completely online, Jefferson took all of her classes at a distance while working full time at Virginia Eye Institute in Richmond, Virginia.

“The deciding factor for me to enroll in the MIT program was the presence of the healthcare modules. Given my experience in healthcare and my new love of technology, I thought it would be a great fit.”

Jefferson was also impressed that the program catered to both of her passions, and she was able to pursue them through the modules which also allowed her to explore new fields.

Most students graduate with three modules which provide them with backgrounds and experiences in a variety of fields.

The MIT program – a partnership between the College of Engineering and the Pamplin College of Business – has maintained a No. 2 ranking for three years in a row, behind the University of Southern California. The program has been highly ranked every year since U.S. News debuted the Top Online Rankings in 2012.

Her favorite courses were information systems design & database concepts and object-oriented analysis & design—both foundational courses. “I enjoyed learning more about databases and actually being able to create one from scratch in the information systems design & database concepts course.” She also liked creating graphical user interfaces and experimenting with features in Microsoft Access. In object-oriented analysis & design, she liked creating Java programs and being “able to put together a small program and watch it run without errors.”

Admitting that she was intimidated and nervous about taking these classes at first, she said the “professors made the courses very interesting and easy to learn.”