ASU Online Ranked Among Best Online Programs in Nation

TEMPE, Ariz., Jan. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Arizona State University (ASU) Online has been ranked among the top ten online bachelor's degree programs in the country according to today's U.S. News & World Report rankings. The 2015 "Best Online Programs" list ranks ASU eighth for best online bachelor's degree programs. ASU Online currently offers 41 undergraduate and 38 graduate online degrees and continues to see tremendous enrollment growth, with a 42.6 percent increase since 2013. The complete list of rankings can be viewed at www.usnews.com/online.

"We are pleased that ASU continues to be recognized for its academic excellence and as an innovator in higher education," said Phil Regier, Dean and Executive Vice Provost for ASU Online. "We are committed to offering the best experience possible to all of our students and ensuring that anyone who is motivated to pursue a bachelor's degree has the opportunity to achieve his or her educational and career goals."

U.S. News assessed schools based on four general 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)

Five ASU Online graduate degree programs also were ranked among the nation's best, including; Criminal Justice at second overall, Business at third overall, Engineering at 14 overall, Education at 23 overall, and Nursing coming in at 74 overall.

ASU, a Research-1 university, offers an array of degree options, and access to the vast academic, research, careers resources, and quality services for online students. The caliber of the faculty also largely 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. ASU now serves more than 13,200 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. 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 more than 70 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.

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SOURCE ASU Online