UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's online campus, the World Campus, ranked in the Top 25 for its online undergraduate and graduate programs among the hundreds of higher education institutions included in U.S. News & World Report's 2013 Best Online Education Program Rankings, released Tuesday (Jan. 15).
World Campus ranked:
-- No. 2 for online graduate engineering programs.
-- No. 5 for online graduate computer information technology programs.
-- No. 16 for online bachelor’s degree programs.
-- No. 19 for online graduate business programs.
-- No. 25 for online graduate education programs.
"It is deeply gratifying to have so many of Penn State's online programs recognized among the best by U.S. News," said Wayne Smutz, executive director of Penn State World Campus and associate vice president for Academic Outreach. "These rankings attest to the success of the World Campus and academic colleges' collaborations to deliver high-quality education programs in a format that is convenient for busy adults seeking education to expand their career options."
For this year's rankings, U.S. News provided an overall ranking for select program categories. By ranking a wide range of programs across many institutions offering online programs, U.S. News is making it easier for prospective students to decide which institution offers the best education program for their needs. Full details of the U.S. News 2013 Best Online Education Program Rankings and methodologies are available at http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education.
Nationally, online education continues to grow, according to a recent Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) survey, which found more than 6.7 million students were taking at least one online course during 2011.
Penn State is one of the first higher education institutions to offer online education, starting in 1998 with the launch of the World Campus. Since then, Penn State World Campus has continued to be selective about the degree programs it offers online to help graduates prepare for future career opportunities. Students who study online with the World Campus can earn a Penn State degree, the same degree earned by students on campus, because the online programs are taught by the same faculty who teach on campus.
The high quality and reputation of World Campus programs and student support services has been recognized with numerous awards, including Sloan-C awards for Excellence in Institution-Wide Online Education, Outstanding Achievement in Online Education by an Individual for Smutz, and Outstanding Online Program for the online bachelor's degree in energy and sustainability policy. The World Campus also has received awards from the National University Technology Network and the University Professional Continuing Education Association.
Today, the World Campus offers more than 80 graduate, undergraduate and professional education programs online to nearly 12,000 students worldwide. To learn more about what the World Campus has to offer, visit http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/USNews13.
Penn State World Campus specializes in adult online education, delivering more than 80 of Penn State's most highly regarded graduate, undergraduate and professional education programs through convenient online formats. World Campus is part of Penn State Outreach, which serves more than 5 million people each year, in all 67 Pennsylvania counties, all 50 states and more than 100 countries worldwide.