10 Online Business Schools With Low Out-of-State Tuition
The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College and The Short List: Grad School to find data that matters to you in your college or grad school search.
Many prospective students eager to add a business degree to their resumes assume taking classes online will provide a hefty cost savings.
But that's not always the case, since some online graduate business programs charge just as much, if not more, for their online offerings.
[Discover why online MBA programs offer an easier admissions path.]
Still, students hoping to get a cost-effective online degree do have affordable options if they are willing to do a little searching.
The average per-credit, out-of-state tuition for part-time online graduate business school students in 2013-2014 was $722, according to data reported by 209 ranked public, private and for-profit schools in an annual U.S. News survey. At the 10 schools with the lowest out-out-state tuition, students paid an average of $282 per credit.
Cameron University's online graduate business school charged the lowest out-of-state tuition in 2013-2014, billing part-time students $156 per credit. Of the 10 online graduate business programs with the cheapest out-of-state tuition, the University of Alabama had the highest-ranked program. The school's online graduate business program is ranked No. 12 by U.S. News.
[Compare online and on-ground top business schools.]
Below are the 10 online business programs with the lowest out-of-state, part-time tuition on a per-credit basis. Schools designated by U.S. News as Unranked were excluded from this list. U.S. News did not calculate a numerical ranking for Unranked programs because the program did not meet certain criteria that U.S. News requires to be numerically ranked.
Several programs on the list were designated as Rank Not Published in the U.S. News Best Online Graduate Business Programs rankings. U.S. News calculates, but does not publish, a numerical rank for RNP schools.
Business school (name) (state) | 2013-2014 out-of-state, part-time tuition per credit | U.S. News rank |
|---|---|---|
Cameron University (OK) | $156 | RNP |
$245 | 43 | |
$268 | 143 | |
$275 | 118 | |
Peru State College (NE) | $275 | RNP |
$276 | 32 | |
$325 | 153 | |
$328 | 27 | |
$334 | RNP | |
University of Alabama (Manderson) | $334 | 12 |
School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed 223 universities in our 2013 survey of online master's degree programs in business . Schools reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Online Programs rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Online Programs. The tuition data above are correct as of Aug. 12, 2014.
Devon Haynie is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering online education. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at dhaynie@usnews.com.
