U.S. News Ranks The University of Scranton’s Online Graduate Programs Among Best in Nation
The University of Scranton’s online graduate program in education ranked No. 9 in the nation, and its online MBA program ranked No. 51, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2014 Best Online Education Programs. The lists, published Jan. 7, ranked online programs offered by nonprofit and for-profit institutions in the United States in categories of business, education, engineering, nursing and computer information technology.
Scranton’s online graduate program in education has the highest rank of the 14 Pennsylvania colleges, and the eight Jesuit universities listed by U.S. News. Scranton’s online graduate program in business tied with St. Joseph’s University for the highest rank among the six Jesuit colleges listed, and was among just 12 colleges in Pennsylvania listed.
For the 2014 Best Online Education Programs ranking, U.S. News reviewed statistical information submitted by schools. The ranking criteria differed by category. For graduate programs in education, the ranking was based on student engagement (35 percent), which includes graduation rates, class size, retention rates and best practices such as accreditation from the Teacher Education Accreditation Council and collaborative coursework requirements, among other factors; student services and technology (20 percent), which includes student indebtedness and support services; admissions selectivity (15 percent), which includes student GRE scores, GPA and experience of students; faculty credentials and training (15 percent); and peer reputation score (15 percent).
For online graduate business programs, the ranking is based on student engagement (33 percent), which looked at graduation rates, class size, and best practices such as accreditation, collaborative coursework, course evaluation requirements and other factors; admission selectivity (20 percent), which looked at GMAT scores, GPA and experience, among other factors; peer reputation score (20 percent); faculty credentials and training (13.5 percent); and student services and technology (13.5 percent).
The University of Scranton offers online a Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) in general business, enterprise resource planning, healthcare management, operations management and international business; and a Master of Science degree (MS) in the education fields of curriculum and instruction and educational administration (K-12), in addition to a non-degree administration certification program.
For technology, recruitment and marketing support, the University partners with Deltak for the online MBA degree program, as well as Bisk Education for online graduate education degree programs.
The 2014 Best Online Education Programs can be seen at usnews.com.
This is the third year that U.S. News published national rankings of online graduate degree programs and the third third year that the University’s programs in education and business were ranked. The methodology used by the U.S. News to determine the ranking has changed each year.
In other rankings published by U.S. News & World Report, Scranton has been named as one of the top 10 “Best Regional Universities in the North” for 20 consecutive years and was among just 61 up-and-coming schools in the nation in the 2014 edition. The University is also in its “America’s Best Graduate Schools” guidebook.
