"Strayer students have a reputation for being hard-working professionals."

Reggie Stewart (MBA '05) received a significant pay raise from his employer, Sodexho, soon after earning a master's degree from Strayer University. In 2006, he was promoted to senior director of talent acquisition for the company, which provides food and facilities management services for schools, hospitals, retirement communities, corporations and the military. Today, Stewart manages 12 recruiters for the organization, two of whom recruit on a corporate level.

Stewart is also co-chairman of Sodexho's African American Leadership Forum, Mid Atlantic Region, which provides networking and developmental opportunities for exempt employees.

With so many professional responsibilities, Stewart says his most important role is as a single dad. His daughter, Regina, 16, is a senior at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C. In his new role at work, Stewart now has the opportunity to telecommute several days each week, which allows him to prepare meals, give driving lessons and follow up on his daughter's daily activities in a way that provides a highly satisfactory work/life balance, he says.

Before earning his degree, Stewart was on the tactical side of human resources. Now his role is more strategic.

"One of the ongoing benefits of being a Strayer University alumnus is name recognition in the workplace," Stewart shares. "Strayer students have a reputation for being hard-working professionals. To be taken seriously in the business world bodes well for my reputation and my career."