27 January 2019
The US News & World Report has announced the eighth edition of its Best Online Programs Rankings. There are a variety of tables including online bachelor’s programs, online graduate programs in subjects such as accounting, computer science and project management, online MBA and graduate business programs and online criminal justice, engineering and nursing programs.
The methodology for each ranking is different. For bachelor’s programs, for example, the criteria are:
- Engagement (35%) including participation in courses, interaction with classmates, and accessibility of instructors
- Services and technologies (25%) including diverse online learning technologies and support structures
- Faculty credentials and training (20%); whether instructions have qualifications equivalent to campus - based programs
- Expert opinion (20%); based on a survey by academic officials.
The best programs in the various categories are:
- Bachelor’s; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida
- MBA; Indian University Bloomington and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Business non-MBA; Indiana University Bloomington
- Computer Information Technology; University of Southern California
- Criminal Justice; University of Nebraska Omaha
- Education; Clemson University, South Carolina, University of Florida, Utah State University, Virginia Commonwealth University
- Engineering; Columbia University, New York
- Nursing; Johns Hopkins University, Maryland.