How a Penn State education empowered this alum to dream big

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — When Corey Wheeler got his bachelor’s degree online from Penn State as a working adult in 2020, it was a major accomplishment for him at the time, he said.

Wheeler had started college fresh out of high school but regretted that he didn't finish. He went on to work in information technology and was successful, but he worried that without a degree, he said, he would lose the chance at upward mobility. He also wanted to keep the promise to his family that he would complete the degree.

Wheeler found success going back to school online at Penn State, through Penn State World Campus. What he did not expect was that his success would unlock so much more for him, empowering him to be a lifelong learner and dream big about his career.

“I've never felt more in control of myself, my career, and my education than I have ever in my life,” Wheeler said. “I really do think it's because of what I've done at Penn State World Campus. I see myself as an empowered individual, capable of just achieving really anything I can think of at this point.”

The motivations to go back to school

Wheeler enrolled at Morehouse College in Atlanta, but “life went off the rails” in the early 1990s, he said, causing him to leave school. He went into the IT field and saw himself as an accomplished individual, but he felt not having a degree was limiting his upward mobility.

Wheeler spent 25 years trying to figure out how to go back to school to finish what he started. He tried on-campus options to finish his bachelor’s, but they were not good fits, he said.

Wheeler’s family was another motivating factor. He said he promised his children he would finish his degree, and he wanted to be a role model to them as they got older and would make decisions about their futures.

In 2015, he decided to go for it. He had full support from his wife, Sophia, and his children, he said.

“I want my family to just be proud of me, to be proud of the things that I've accomplished in life,” Wheeler said. “I wanted to be more. I wanted to do more. I wanted to accomplish more.”

As he started exploring his options, he said, Penn State’s online offerings, through Penn State World Campus, came out on the top of his lists: It’s a top-ranked institution in the country for online learning. It offers degrees in IT among its comprehensive selection of degree programs. And the flexibility of the way online learning works would allow him to do his school work on his own time.

That meant he could still work and be a dad and husband while he was also a student.

What it's like to learn online

Wheeler’s first semester as a full-time student was in 2017. He enrolled in the bachelor of science in information sciences and technology, which is offered online through Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology.

He said it was an adjustment for him, and time management was key.

“Here I am, going to school after 25 years, trying to figure out if I have what it takes to be successful,” Wheeler said. “I knew, in order to be successful, I really had to be very careful with my time, be very careful with pacing myself throughout the week for assignments.”

He said he preferred to do his school work in the afternoons and evenings, after he was done working at his job. He praised his family for doing things around the house so he could focus on school. He liked that he could take his laptop on family vacations, and as long as he had internet access, still keep up with his school work.

“There's nothing like being able to take my quizzes and tests at 6 a.m. or if I want to come in and take them at midnight,” Wheeler said. “World Campus gives you that freedom and flexibility to craft your own schedule.”

Finding his initial success as an online learner

Wheeler was able to get into a groove after working through the adjustments in the first semesters, he said.

He took a week-by-week approach to his courses’ readings, quizzes and tests, and other assignments. If he could finish one week, he could continue to the next. Over time, weeks would turn into a semester and semesters into an academic year.

“Before you know it, graduation was right in front of me,” he said. “It was like three years were gone, just like that.”

Wheeler had been a successful and engaged student. He got involved in creating what became the student government for Penn State’s online learners. He mentored online learners who were new to college, sharing with them the lessons he learned from his return to school.

When Wheeler graduated in 2020, he had his Penn State degree, which reaffirmed to him, he said, that Penn State World Campus is Penn State.

He found the first feeling of empowerment on his educational journey, he said.

“Originally, the goal was to just get in and complete my undergrad,” Wheeler said. “But then I realized while I was in it, I really loved to learn. The classes I took showed me that I could do so much more than just go and get an undergraduate degree. I could start my own business empire, which is the goal right now.”

Feeling empowered to get a master’s degree

Wheeler posted on his LinkedIn that he graduated from Penn State, and to his surprise, he said, employers started reaching out to him. One was NVIDIA Corp., one of the largest technology companies in the world. He was able to secure a job as a solutions architect who creates large-scale computer systems for clients.

Day to day, Wheeler was using what he learned in his courses in database management systems and security. He said he's looking into how to secure clients’ networks and how to create networks and build databases.

Wheeler felt empowered to dream big, he said, and he wanted to continue his education by pursuing a graduate business degree.

Because of the success Wheeler had as an undergraduate online learner at Penn State, he said, he wanted to enroll in the Penn State Online MBA, which is led by the internationally recognized Smeal College of Business.

Through the knowledge he learned from his MBA courses, he shifted his approach at work. He started framing clients’ requests not as technology problems but rather as how technology can solve a business problem.

“I think the superpower that my degree has given me is an ability to think about technology from a business perspective,” Wheeler said.

Dreaming big

Wheeler said his desire for business skills and knowledge broadened beyond the MBA. He enrolled in a second master’s degree in business through World Campus, the master’s in strategic management and executive leadership, to further develop his business knowledge.

He completed certificates in corporate innovation and entrepreneurship and business architecture, which he said he considered milestones along the way to his master’s degrees that gave him a credential and the satisfaction to keep going toward the ultimate goal.

He finished the MBA in 2022 and the strategic management and executive leadership master’s degree in 2023. With an extensive education in business, he felt empowered again, he said.

“The master's degrees just solidified that I can really, really do anything in this world I want to at this point now,” Wheeler said.

The future

Wheeler is not content to stop learning. He has set his sights on a doctorate, and he plans to enroll in Penn State’s Executive Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program, which is offered in a hybrid format by the Smeal College of Business.

As Wheeler looked back 10 years, he said, he saw how much he had changed from someone whose initial goal was just finishing his bachelor’s degree.

“World Campus allowed me to continue working full-time, to be a full-time father, to be a full-time employee, and to be a full-time student all at the same time,” Wheeler said. “I don't think without a program like the World Campus I could have ever, ever completed any of my dreams.”

A Penn State education online

Wheeler is one of the more than 40,000 graduates who have completed a Penn State degree online. Penn State World Campus offers a Penn State education and has been an integral part of the University for more than 25 years. Learn more about earning a Penn State degree online through Penn State World Campus.