The Top Online Degree Programs: US News List

Online course enrollment in the United States hit an all-time high in 2010 with more than 6.1 million students, and the trend shows no signs of leveling off, according to a 2011 report by the Babson Survey Research Group.

Enrollment in online classes doubled between 2007 and 2011, driven largely by a stagnant economy and competitive job market, but also by robust online offerings from established public and private institutions, according to the report. At more than 2,500 colleges and universities surveyed, 65 percent of administrators say that online learning is a vital piece of their institution's long-term strategy.

Recognizing the growing importance of online education in the college experience, and the unique formula necessary to make online degree programs successful, U.S. News is releasing its first Top Online Education Programs rankings.

THE BACHELOR DEGREE HONOR ROLL

U.S. News ranked 196 online bachelor's degree programs and 523 online master's degree programs in business, engineering, nursing, education, and computer information technology. Programs considered for the rankings needed to have at least 80 percent of their course content available online.

Bachelor's programs were ranked in three distinct categories: student engagement and assessment, student services and technology, and faculty credentials and training. Master's programs had similar ranking categories, but were ranked on student engagement and accreditation, rather than assessment, and had a separate indicator ranking for admissions selectivity.

[See the methodologies behind the Top Online Programs rankings.]

The U.S. News honor roll lists single out schools that ranked in the top third across at least three of these indicator rankings. Honor roll lists were compiled for online bachelor's degree programs and master's degree programs in nursing, business, education, and engineering. Online master's programs in computer information technology have no honor roll because too few programs from the smaller universe of schools met the criteria.

While for-profit institutions such as the University of Phoenix, DeVry University, and American Public University are among the schools with the highest enrollments in online programs, no for-profit institutions received honor roll distinctions. Instead, a handful of public and private institutions with established on-campus programs, in addition to online offerings, received high marks across all categories.

The top performers in online bachelor's degree programs include Pace University in New York and the University of Florida. Auburn University in Alabama made the honor roll for its online master's programs in education and engineering, and George Washington University's master's programs earned the Washington, D.C., school mentions in the education, business, and nursing honor rolls.

Bachelor's: The majority of online bachelor's programs are degree-completion programs designed for students with some college credit or applicable work experience. Many students juggle school, work, and family obligations, so teachers must find a way to engage their students despite distractions and minimal face-to-face contact.

Westfield State University in Massachusetts earned the top spot for faculty training and credentials among online bachelor's programs, and Nebraska's Bellevue University earned the No. 1 spot for student engagement and assessment. Technology and infrastructure are also key components of a successful online program, and Arizona State University claimed the top spot for student services and technology.

Business (master's): The top online master's in business programs in each rankings category were Washington State University (admissions selectivity), University of Scranton in Pennsylvania (student engagement and accreditation), Arkansas State University-- Jonesboro (faculty credentials and training), and Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina (student services and technology). While each program performed well in distinct areas, only Gardner-Webb and Arkansas State earned spots on the online business honor roll. Temple University in Pennsylvania, Arizona State's W.P. Carey School of Business, and University of Mississippi are also among the 14 schools on the business honor roll.

[Learn how the online M.B.A. rankings are calculated.]

Engineering (master's): Two of the three schools earning honor roll distinction for their online master's of engineering programs-- University of Wisconsin-- Madison and Auburn University-- are no strangers to U.S. News's traditional graduate rankings. Joining the duo on the honor roll is Lawrence Technological University in Michigan. Auburn's Samuel Ginn College of Engineering topped the admissions selectivity ranking, and UW–Madison's College of Engineering claimed the No. 1 spot in both student engagement and accreditation and student services and technology. The University of Bridgeport in Connecticut leads the pack in faculty credentials and training.

Nursing (master's or doctorate of nursing practice): The master's or doctorate of nursing practice programs that lead the rankings include George Washington (faculty credentials and training), University of Northern Colorado (student engagement and accreditation), Delta State University in Mississippi (admissions selectivity), and Loyola University New Orleans (student services and technology). Loyola and George Washington made the honor roll list for their online master's in nursing programs; also on that list are Drexel University in Pennsylvania, Clarkson College in Nebraska, and the University of Colorado-- Denver Health Sciences Center School of Nursing.

[Read about the factors used to rank the top online nursing programs.]

Education (master's): The highest ranked online master's of education programs are at New York's Syracuse University (student services and technology), Northern Illinois University (faculty credentials and training), Pennsylvania State University-- University Park (admissions selectivity), and University of Northern Colorado (student engagement and accreditation). Northern Illinois, Penn State, and Syracuse also joined a handful of other schools on the education honor roll.

Computer Information Technology (master's): Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering in Baltimore tops the ranking for online CIT programs in student services and technology, and Penn State University-- University Park leads its peers in faculty credentials and training. Southern Polytechnic State University in Georgia earned a No. 1 ranking in student engagement and accreditation, while North Carolina State University-- Raleigh leads the ranking for admissions selectivity in online CIT programs.

Searching for an online program? Get our complete rankings of Top Online Education Programs.

Comments

[Jacob Willson]

05:11 AM on 09/27/2012

Your Blog is Fabulous. Good article rather. Very interesting.
I admire the valuable information you offered in your article. Excellent submission very good post.

Get GED Online

[Ronnie William]

01:58 AM on 09/07/2012

As a lifelong resident of New Jersey, I can definitely relate to the NY traffic. I used to work in Fort Lee, NJ, which is where you get on the George Washington Bridge to go into NY. With no traffic, it would take me 20 minutes to get from my house to my office. But most mornings it took me anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, because the GWB is ALWAYS backed up. Not having to travel in this to go to school is the greatest. I come home, put on my comfy clothes, sign on my computer, and go to class. This is my first online school experience, and I don’t think I would ever take classes any other way again. I recommend this web site for list of best online schools. http://www.askforeducation.com/online-schools/

[anoush]

01:07 AM on 01/30/2012

I am currently taking my 2nd online class for teacher recertification with PBSTeacherline. I am amazed and quite impressed with the rigor of assignments, thoughtfulness of readings and discussion forums as well as weekly instructor feedback. I have a masters degree from Columbia Univ and these courses match any of the courses I took there and surpass some.

[marcchagal]

12:24 PM on 01/11/2012

Good thing this isn't Forbes talking about REAL UNIVERSITIES.

[MamaShoob]

10:19 AM on 01/11/2012

I am currently studying with Grand Canyon University, there is a lot of student interaction, while it may not be "face to face" we still interact with each other through discussion forums and other forums. It's mandatory to keep that interaction going in order to spread and share our ideas with each other and get into discussions we would also have in person. I did a lot of research to make sure I went to an accredited school and when I'm finished my Degree will be accepted by my work place before I decided to "attend" school.
It is a shape of the times that more and more adults are returning to college to either advance in their profession or ultimately change their profession. I work full time, have two children and a husband, a house to take care of and all the responsibilities that go along with it. There is no way I could return to college to advance myself professionally if I couldn't go online. I'll be able to complete my degree in the same amount of time as if I didn't work and had no responsibilities as a "traditional" student.
Don't knock it until you know what you are talking about by saying that the degree isn't worth the paper it's printed on. The classes are hard and are the same as if I had to go sit and listen to some professors lecture. Sometimes they are harder.

[marcchagal]

12:31 PM on 01/11/2012

That may be so, but these are not real universities with real university experiences. I do understand, however, that this would be helpful for many people who could never get into a top university or any university for that matter, or don't have the time to go to school full time.

[MamaShoob]

02:59 PM on 01/11/2012

Actually, there you are wrong. The university I attend has been a private college since 1949, way before the internet and computers were a household item.

[Mouse718]

08:22 PM on 01/11/2012

My "real university experience" was bumming free vodka of frat boys, partying all night, jogging around a scenic lake, and indulging at the all-you-can eat cruise-ship style buffets in the dorms. While I probably wasn't mature enough to do well with online continuing education degree at age 18-22, my college experience at that age sure wasn't comprised of much in the way of academic or critical thinking. So just because a program doesn't have a traditional "college experience" doesn't mean it's bad.

[sdesign]

07:11 PM on 01/10/2012

I think the lack of face to face interaction and sharing of ideas between students is of great advantage to the corporations that are trying to make "Bank" off of tuition.

[Jimmy Boy]

06:57 PM on 01/10/2012

I take my continuing education through UC Irvine's online program and love it. But it takes awhile to find a good program. Most wanted to charge $1500 per class which is obscene. As far as getting a BA or BS online, that is probably harder. So much of a college education is the interaction with other students.

Still, with junk colleges charging $40 K a year, it's hard to argue they would be any better than an good online university which costs much less.

[J R M]

05:36 PM on 01/10/2012

I expect that we will be seeing normal universities moving to a hybrid class model in the near future, particularly for the large lecture hall type classes.

The cheating issue is easily managed. My daughter has an exam next week for her AP Biology class she it taking on-line. The exam is being given at her high school and she will take it in-person.

[Satirist1]

05:57 PM on 01/10/2012

beside proctored exams they are ways to structure assessments to be cheat-proof, or at least cheat-resistant.
This requires more work on the par to the professor to come with questions.Example: avoid What? Who?Where? When? type of questions.
he problem-- with a large student load it is difficult to read all high level Bloom taxonomy exams.

[Fundamental2A]

12:16 PM on 01/10/2012

Thanks!

[ricchh]

08:57 AM on 01/10/2012

On line degrees are not worth the paper they are printed on. Send a check, get a diploma.

[gtg007w]

02:36 PM on 01/10/2012

Even if I'm viewing the same classes and doing the same homework and taking the same tests as the students that are there physically?

[MBGarcia]

03:49 PM on 01/10/2012

The thing is that there is not way you can guarantee that you are being evaluated in the same manner. These programs are designed to give "professionals" credentials they need to advance in their fields, but there is nothing that can guarantee you're actually doing the work, not passing it off to your assistant, etc.

I know it's the wave of the future (and the future is now,) but our increasing reliance on "online" schools, stores, services and such is not necessarily a good thing. If your identity can be easily stolen, who's to say that the person can't enter all their own information and then not do the actual work, earning the degree because someone else did the work for them?

Besides, there is the "learning through human interaction in a classroom" element to the whole thing. Professors worth their salt can tell if a student is just going through the motions and needs to reassess their career path.

[Abby1]

03:20 PM on 01/10/2012

The majority of the online schools are different from the old papermill diploma schools.

[ProCynic]

01:30 AM on 01/10/2012

Western Governors University is advertising heavily in Washington. Their costs are low. When I was in school, there were a lot of BS (not the degree type) fees, instructors selling their 40 page spiral bound "book" for $60, and sweetheart deals with textbook publishers that made it impossible to sell back or otherwise offload your text books and get something back.

Good, low cost, accredited programs are what we need. But, not everyone should go to college. Many that go to college have no need. We need to bring back serious apprenticeship programs.

[jaxstl]

07:02 PM on 01/10/2012

OH they still scam you with textbook cost. Some of the for-profits have buying books they themselves produce and they directly profit from them. I just purchased my textbook for classes I'm taking at a local community college, they ran me about $450 for 4 classes, which is cheap I think, but then I agree it's a scam.

[Rasmanjari Tucker]

10:34 AM on 01/13/2012

I love taking online classes, but the college I attend is not an online college. I would prefer to take online classes rather than face to face, although there are certain classes that I HAVE to take face to face because the online version doesn't go into much detail as a lecture would. I also have a lot of medical problems at 25 yrs old, so there are plenty of days that I wouldn't be able t make it to class because of pain or having to be hospitalized and that is where online classes come into play.
They are indeed very helpful and gives me time to do it on my own schedule. Granted some online colleges are a total ripoff and so are the prices of the books.