NC colleges have some of the top online education programs. Here’s the US News list.
As universities work to make college more accessible and affordable, students are turning to online education to complete their degrees. Last fall, more than a third of students took at least one online course and 16% were enrolled exclusively in distance education courses, federal education data shows.
Several universities in North Carolina rank among the best online education programs in the nation, according to the 2020 U.S. News & World Report rankings released Tuesday. UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State and UNC-Wilmington topped the list in different areas.
The rankings evaluate more than 1,600 distance education bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in areas including nursing, business and engineering.
Online MBA at UNC-Chapel Hill
UNC-Chapel Hill ranked as the No. 1 program for an online master of business administration degree, in a tie with Indiana University. The online MBA program at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School also landed in the top 5 for business analytics, marketing and finance specialties. UNC-CH’s non-MBA business master’s program ranked 5th in the country and 2nd for veterans.
Douglass Shackelford, dean of the business school, said the online MBA program is an important option for talented individuals who can’t leave their jobs and move to Chapel Hill.
With UNC’s online option, a farmer in a remote town in Iowa, a soldier stationed in Afghanistan, a parent who “goes to class” when her kids go to bed and a businesswoman splitting her time between New York City, London and Hong Kong can earn a degree as long as they have internet access.
Most of the academic work is done outside of class, then the 15 students join a video conference with the professor for the lectures.
Shackelford said UNC built the program around “maximum flexibility for students” without lowering admissions standards or the quality of the faculty or curriculum. About 800 students are in the program.
UNC offers multiple forms of its MBA program, including a residential program, one that meets every Monday night and one that meets for an entire weekend every three weeks. The programs are identical, Shackelford said, so the online degree isn’t better or worse than any of the other options.
“Different people learn in different ways,” Shackelford said. “We try to design everything with the students’ best interest in mind. It’s whatever works best for you.”
Online engineering at NC State
N.C. State’s online graduate engineering program ranked among the best in the country at 7th overall, 6th for veterans and top 10 in several specialties.
NCSU ranked 2nd for civil engineering, 5th for electrical, 6th for mechanical and 7th for industrial.
The engineering program has been offering distance education since the 1970s. It started with sending out videotapes, and now students can stream classes online.
Linda Krute, director of distance engineering education programs at N.C. State, said the master’s program’s success is due to the flexibility, access and quality of the classes it delivers to the more than 400 online graduate students across the country and internationally.
“Engineering online offers for professional engineers and computer scientists an opportunity to update and increase their competencies in new areas of engineering,” Krute said. “Even people in the Research Triangle area would find that taking an online course is much more convenient because of the flexibility.”
Full-time engineering faculty teach nearly all of the courses in the program to ensure its quality. Many of the students have full-time jobs while working to complete their degree. The average age is 34, but ranges between 25 and 72 years old. Online students have the same lectures, course requirements and degree programs as students on campus.
N.C. State’s online MBA program and Information Technology program both ranked 15th in the country.
Online nursing at NC universities
Duke University’s highest-ranked online degree program was for its master’s in nursing program.
Duke ranked 7th overall and 1st in nursing administration and leadership and nursing education. Duke’s nurse practitioner program was ranked as the best in the nation in three specialties, including family practice, pediatric-primary care and psychiatric mental health.
UNC Greensboro was ranked 14th for its master’s in nursing program. East Carolina University ranked 17th overall, 5th in nursing education and 10th in the administration and leadership specialty.
Duke, UNCG and ECU’s nursing programs ranked in the top 10 for veterans.
UNC Charlotte ranked 17th for its master’s in nursing administration program.
Online bachelor’s degrees
UNC Wilmington was ranked 8th in the country for its online bachelor’s degree program and 6th best for veterans. UNCW’s online programs are “designed to reach students wherever they are and whatever their life circumstances,” according to the university website. The online courses receive the same accreditation as campus programs and are taught by the same faculty members.
The RN to BSN nursing program and clinical research program are UNCW’s two biggest online bachelor’s programs.
UNCW Chancellor Jose Sartarelli said there’s a “tremendous demand” for online education. He said it’s a solution for adult education and people who want to keep their jobs while pursuing an advanced degree.
“It’s a convenient way of getting a great education without having to stop and go to school for 2 to 3 years,” Sartarelli said. “You can continue to work and do your online program at your own pace.”
UNCC and N.C. State also ranked in the top 50 for online bachelor’s degree programs, at 33 and 39 respectively.
Other top 25 online education programs in NC
▪ ECU ranked 16th in the country for its master’s in criminal justice online program.
▪ N.C. A&T State and UNCG tied at 24th for their online master’s in information technology programs. NC A&T was 14th for veterans.
▪ N.C. State’s online master’s in education program ranked 8th for veterans, 10th in media design specialty and 15th in the curriculum and instruction specialty.
▪ UNCG and ECU’s online master’s in education programs tied for 20th in the curriculum and instruction specialty rankings.
▪ UNCC has the 7th best program for special education.
▪ Duke’s engineering program ranked 20th for veterans and 6th in the engineering management specialty.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "NC colleges have some of the top online education programs. Here’s the US News list.."
