Although it has not fulfilled its early promise online higher education continues to grow. At the moment the leader in the ranking of online programmes is the US News & World Report (USN). The latest USN online rankings include US bachelor’s programs and master’s programs in Business, Computer Information Technology, Criminal Justice/Criminology, Engineering, Education and Nursing. Altogether over 1,600 programs have been evaluated this year. Data are derived from a peer reputation survey and information provided by the programs.

There were some methodological changes this year. The weighting for student excellence was reduced and there was less emphasis on GRE and GMAT scores in the assessment of graduate programs.

The indicators for bachelor’s programs are grouped in four categories:

• Engagement
• Services and technologies
• Expert opinion
• Faculty credentials and training.

These categories are also used in the evaluation of master’s programmes along with Student excellence. The precise weighting varies according to the type of programme.

The top universities in each category are:

Bachelor’s programs; Ohio State University Columbus

MBA; Indiana University Bloomington and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Business -non-MBA; University of Southern California

Computer Information Technology; University of Southern California

Criminal Justice/criminology; University of California Irvine

Education, Clemson University, South Carolina

Engineering; Columbia University, New York

Nursing, Rush University, Illinois.

Source:
US News & World Report