CEHD Advances In Latest Online Education Rankings

The College of Education and Human Development jumped almost 40 spots in the latest rankings highlighting the best online graduate education programs in the country.

The 2019 U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs rankings, released today, list the college’s online graduate programs as 16th in the country.

Dr. Beverly Irby, professor and associate dean for academic affairs, credits the double-digit increase to the college’s growing emphasis on improving distance education.

“We have focused on bringing up the quality of distance education with two specific targeted actions. Departments are committed to hiring instructional designers and the dean is committed to creating a college-level committee for distance education,” she explained.

The instructional designers and the distance education committee are integral in helping faculty create the best courses possible. A main goal is to get as many courses as possible certified by Quality Matters, a standards-based program offering faculty quality assurance in online course design with a focus on continuous improvement.

U.S. News focused on five general categories to establish this year’s rankings: engagement, services and technologies, expert opinion, student excellence, and faculty credentials and training.

Online learning is considered integral to all types of education, including higher ed. This is the eighth year U.S. News has collected data related to online programs and the range and depth of information collected continues to expand.

For a full list of this year’s rankings, visit: https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education