Matt Kuske thankful for “life-long connections” made at Concordia Nebraska

Matt Aaron Kuske CO ’12 GR ’17 said when he was a senior in high school and considering colleges, Concordia University, Nebraska was not even on his initial list of universities to visit. 

“I had looked at a few other public and private universities both big and small and Concordia was kind of a late entry to my list,” he said. “I didn't even come visit the campus until late October of my senior year, but once I was on campus I was sold!” 

He said the best thing about his time Concordia Nebraska is the life-long connections he has made. 

“Those friends, professors, staff and others and my relationships with them is the piece that I get to reminisce on and reflect on years later,” he said. “The comradery of the student body through all the various activities really just speaks to the culture of the school. “ 

Kuske has a bachelor of science degree in business administration with a focus in marketing,  as well as an MBA in risk management. When considering where to study for a graduate degree, Kuske said he was seeking a program and a school that were flexible to fit with his schedule but also matched his career goals. Again, Concordia Nebraska was the perfect fit. When working toward his graduate degree, he was living in Lincoln, Nebraska, which allowed him to attend in person as part of his cohort.  

“Both my undergraduate and graduate experiences at Concordia shaped the path for where I am serving today,” he added. “I was challenged to have new perspectives, be open-minded, challenge my peers, but also bring my perspective to the table of any discussion. Those are the exact things I do today and have for the last 11 years since starting my working career.” 

Kuske said his time on campus also helped to develop his faith. 

 “In almost every facet of the daily schedule there was time to stop, reflect on my faith, grow in it and put it in action,” he said. “The environment allowed me to learn more about my faith and really own my personal relationship with God.”    

He said he is grateful to the professors and advisors who guided him and supported him during his time at the university. 

“Walking into college, I had a mindset of what I thought I wanted to do. But once I started getting into the classes, I felt like I could really take a lot of different directions,” he explained. “My advisor really gave me the foundation for my path but all of my professors helped me realize my potential and what my gifts and skills were and how that translated into my forward momentum into the world.” 

Kuske’s career path has been driven and directed by both his interests and opportunities that have come his way.  He began his career with Nelnet in Lincoln, Nebraska following graduation, where he participated in the servicing of students loans for the Federal government. 

“I worked in the call center for the first six months and then moved into a quality assurance role,” he said. “In my time there, I moved around within different corporate areas and lines of business but ended in a role as a senior compliance officer supporting the organizations multiple loan servicers and their daily activities.”  

He continued working Nelnet for eight years, and during that time due to the impact of Covid became a fully-remote employee and moved to Texas because of the flexibility afforded by remote work. In early 2021, he was presented with a new opportunity and started as a compliance officer at Discover Financial Services, supporting their private student loan product. He has served there for the past two and a half years.  

“In my current role as a compliance advisory senior manager for Discover, my daily routine varies, which I love,” he said. “I never know what I'm going to walk into each day, but it keeps me on my toes. I support initiatives and projects that fall under everything from issue management, business changes, quality assurance, training and more. At the end of the day, my job is to ensure our customers are receiving everything that we have promised them they will get and everything the law requires us to do to ensure we have a sound product and informed consumer.” 

Although he attends many meetings daily and is frequently found reviewing materials, he said his job is really about asking a lot of questions and improving processes and products to ensure satisfied customers. 

“My job is really about poking holes in plans, proposals, results, and other information to make sure everything is fool proof so we don't have any issue down the road. If there are issues, I work with my business partners to make sure we stop the problem, have a permanent solution, and if necessary fix any mistakes,” he said.  “If we make a great, customer friendly product that meets all our compliance obligations and supports our customer's needs, then we have done our job as a company.” 

Kuske has two siblings and they each have two children of their own. He enjoys being an uncle to his three nieces and nephew. Since they live in the Midwest and he is in Texas, they FaceTime often and he travels to see them as much as possible, he said.  

When he’s not working or spending time with family, Kuske enjoys working out and focusing on improved nutrition and physique.  

“I love traveling and exploring new places,” he added. “This fall I checked off my last few states in New England and can now say that I've been to all 50 states in the union.” 

Are you interested in learning more about master’s degree offerings at Concordia Nebraska? Discover available programs here.