ASU Online Ranked Among Best Online Programs in Nation

TEMPE, Ariz., Jan. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Arizona State University (ASU) Online has been ranked among the top ten online bachelor's degree programs in the country according to U.S. News & World Report rankings released on January 8. The 2014 "Best Online Programs" list ranks ASU ninth for best online bachelor's degree programs. The university is seventh among public universities offering online bachelor's degree programs and the top ranked Pac-12 school on the list. ASU Online currently offers more than 60 undergraduate and graduate online degrees and continues to see tremendous enrollment growth, with a 182 percent increase since 2012. The complete list of rankings can be viewed at www.usnews.com/online.

ASU, a Research I university, offers an array of degree options, quality services and dedicated resources for online students. ASU Online's commitment to student success, and the services made available to ensure each student receives support throughout his or her online experience had a significant impact on achieving a top ten ranking. The caliber of the faculty also contributed to the rise in rankings. At ASU, every online program is developed by the same faculty who teach on campus and designed to engage students and professors in meaningful ways. ASU's online students connect with the full university experience: interaction with internationally recognized faculty, access to collections from ASU's eight award-winning libraries, an alumni network tens of thousands of members strong and membership in a community of thousands of students pursuing their degrees.

"We're thrilled to be recognized as one of the top universities offering fully online programs in the country," said Phil Regier, executive vice provost and dean of ASU Online. "ASU offers online degree programs that deliver high quality, rigorous curriculum taught by world class faculty. We're proud to provide a continually evolving and adaptable format to help our students achieve their educational and career goals."

The program rankings included strength in the following categories:

• Student engagement (including participation in courses that allow students opportunities to readily interact with instructors and fellow classmates)
• Faculty credentials and training (including doctoral and tenure-track faculty and formal training for faculty in distance education)
• Student services and technology (including diverse online learning technologies, career guidance and financial aid resources)
• Peer reputation (including industry opinions that account for intangible factors on program quality that is not captured by statistics)

Four ASU Online graduate degree programs also were ranked among the nation's best, including:

• Business – second overall
• Engineering – 11th overall
• Education – 25th overall
• Nursing – 52nd overall

ASU serves nearly 10,000 students from across the U.S. through its online programs. Popular majors include nursing, liberal arts and sciences, criminal justice, interdisciplinary studies, psychology and family resource management studies.

U.S. News & World Report rankings are based on factors such as graduation rates, indebtedness of new graduates and academic and career support services offered to students. The rankings, now in their third year, evaluate information and data from nearly 1,000 online degree programs, up from 860 programs the previous year. Only degree-granting programs offering classes entirely online were considered. For more information on the Best Online Programs rankings, please visit www.usnews.com/online.

About ASU Online
ASU offers over 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs entirely online, providing the opportunity to learn from the same great faculty, engaging with the same rigorous academic content, benefitting from the same services and resources, and earning the same diploma as students who attend on campus. For more information, please visit: http://asuonline.asu.edu.

SOURCE ASU Online