Finishing What He Started Through SOAR™
On May 9, 2026, Rob Hoogenstyn made university history as he walked across the commencement stage as one of the first four students to graduate with a Cornerstone University business degree through its innovative SOAR™ program. He fulfilled a major milestone that stayed with him for decades as a goal: the completion of his college degree. Even more meaningful, Hoogenstyn will graduate from college during the same commencement season as one of his children.
“I’m a husband and father of four. I have a career,” Hoogenstyn said. “I went to college for a little while after high school, but stopped. It’s something I’ve always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to go back and do. But my family responsibilities, career responsibilities, kids — I just didn’t have the time. I’m excited to graduate and walk across the stage and celebrate with my wife and kids.”
Hoogenstyn, who works as a Customer Financial Manager at Royal Technologies, earned a Cornerstone University Bachelor of Science in Strategic Business Management through SOAR™ — the nation’s first smartphone-based learning platform of its kind. For Hoogenstyn, the moment represents new possibilities for his future. For Cornerstone, it reflects the purpose behind SOAR™ itself: creating a different kind of college experience for people like him who wanted a degree but found traditional college out of reach and disconnected from the realities of everyday life.
Built around a smartphone-based learning platform and today’s most valued business skills, SOAR™ allows students to complete course work “on-demand” that is engaging and experienced in short bursts called microlearning. And it’s radically affordable to remove one of the greatest barriers to earning a degree. But for Hoogenstyn, becoming a more disciplined and well-rounded person was another factor that motivated him to finish what he started.
Like many people who step away from college, finishing a degree became something he hoped to return to “someday.” His company, Royal Technologies, is a SOAR™ Business Partner who offered him the opportunity to participate in Cornerstone’s newly launched program as a workforce development pathway to gain business skills that benefit them both.
What ultimately inspired him to enroll was watching his own children pursue their education.
“We encouraged our kids to educate themselves and better themselves,” he said. “They did such a good job of it through high school and college that it really motivated me to practice what I preach.”
Hoogenstyn says the program worked because it adapted to his life rather than forcing him to rearrange it. For him, traditional classroom schedules felt difficult to balance alongside work and family priorities. SOAR’s mobile format allowed him to study whenever time allowed — during lunch breaks, after dinner or in small windows throughout the week.
“I could do it on my own time, at my own pace, and that was really important to me,” he said.
Instead of commuting to class or reorganizing family responsibilities, education became woven into the rhythm of daily life. He described how the learning experience was more approachable than traditional or even online college.
“Blocking out my time and attacking it daily and weekly allowed me to make steady progress, and that helped me finish strong,” Hoogenstyn said. “Going back to school after 30 years is pretty intimidating, and the SOAR™ app really made it convenient for me to jump in and make progress right away.”
He says one of the most valuable parts of the experience were the classes on servant leadership which particularly resonated with him, encouraging him to think more intentionally about helping others grow as an extension of his faith.
“Faith played a role in my SOAR™ journey because my faith is a high priority in my life,” Hoogenstyn said. “The fact that SOAR™ integrates faith into the lessons and teaches you how to apply your faith in real-world settings is something I can use every day. It encourages me to be more bold in my faith as well.”
With his commencement celebration a reality, he is now focused on another family celebration: “It’s pretty surreal to be graduating at the same time as one of my kids,” he said.
His advice for others like him who thought finishing their degree was no longer a possibility: take the first step. Hoogenstyn recommends the SOAR™ program because it gave him the opportunity to finally finish what he started.
“The first step is the hardest step,” he said. “Just go for it. You won’t regret it. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made.”
Congratulations, Golden Eagle Rob Hoogenstyn!
Cornerstone University invites you to find out more about our innovative, most radically affordable accredited business degrees through SOAR™ mobile learning or explore our 65-plus marketplace aligned degrees, contact admissions@cornerstone.edu.
