Why U.S. News Ranks Online Education Programs

Why is U.S. News ranking online education programs? Because they matter and because our readers are hungry for the information.

Online learning has come of age. It is fast becoming an integral part of all education, whether for K-12 students, higher ed seekers, or adult learners. It is innovative, efficient, and sometimes effective. With our first annual ranking of the Top Online Education Programs for higher education, we're giving consumers a clearer picture of the scope and quality of this important education sector.

We've applied some of the same standards we use for traditional brick-and-mortar schools, in addition to new measures we've developed in consultation with education experts. There are aspects of online ed that are unique, and we're sticking to our philosophy of making the best apples-to-apples comparisons that the data will allow. As we've done with colleges for more than 25 years, we want to match similar institutions on their own terms.

We've started with the most popular programs at both not-for-profit and for-profit schools. We asked for data on thousands of programs and got widespread, but not total, cooperation. It's an impressive list with some fascinating results about who made it to the top. We also know it's just a start on a complicated subject.

Some schools argue that you can't compare online programs using traditional measures. We agree. But we also know that at some point there will have to be more tangible and reliable ways of evaluating these programs, or else what's the point of considering an online education?

[Read more about the methodologies used in the Online Education rankings.]

These programs sell themselves as being better able to measure classroom performance and workforce outcomes—that is, did their graduates get jobs? Well, did they? And what about defining the academic and workplace skills their students learned? They're not so good at that yet.

Outcome measures are a big weakness of traditional higher ed. People want to know what they get for what they're paying. Many schools can't tell them. Online education holds the promise of creating better outcome measures for students and employers than it does now. But rigorous data collection and honest reporting will be crucial. After our first go-round, we'd say there's still a ways to go.

At this point, our main goal is to highlight the top programs that emerged from our data. We're able to offer some evaluation, such as basic accrediting standards, for many others. But there are still a large number of programs we can't speak for. Buyer beware.

We'll look for more data and increased cooperation in the months ahead. We see online programs as an essential part of all of our consumer education offerings, including a major expansion of our Best High Schools this spring, a new ranking of Best High Schools for Math and Science education this summer, an evaluation of the nation's teacher training programs in the fall, and much more.

And because education needs to lead to something, we're growing our jobs and careers data and tools to help match job descriptions with educational requirements. We're offering an increasing number of ways for parents, students, and people already in the workforce to research the education and skills they'll need to thrive in a fiercely competitive world.

Online education, combined with new types of digital learning resources, is here to stay. So are our rankings.

Searching for an online program? Get our complete rankings of Top Online Education Programs.