U.S. News Releases Expanded 2015 Best Online Programs Rankings

The number of online students climbs yearly as working adults, deployed service members, traditional college students and others are drawn to the flexibility of the programs.

About 5.4 million students, or 1 in 4, took at least one distance education course during the fall of 2012, according to the most recent data released by the National Center for Education Statistics. A 2014 survey of online students found that they put the most emphasis on reputation and cost when choosing an online program. But there are many other factors -- from class meeting times to graduation rates -- to consider.

To help students research and compare online programs, U.S. News has released the 2015 Best Online Programs rankings.

For the fourth year, the rankings include online bachelor's degrees, as well as online master's degrees in business, engineering, computer information technology, education and nursing. This year, for the first time, U.S. News has ranked online graduate criminal justice programs, and it has created a stand-alone ranking of online MBA programs.

Tied for the top spot in the new online MBA rankings were Indiana University--Bloomington (Kelley), Temple University (Fox) in Pennsylvania and the University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler). The inaugural criminal justice rankings were led by the University of California--Irvine. In the online bachelor's category, which includes the most ranked programs with more than 280, Pennsylvania State University--World Campus landed in the No. 1 spot.

[See the top-ranked online bachelor's programs.]

In total, U.S. News assessed more than 1,200 online degree programs, up more than 20 percent from last year. Only degree-granting programs offered mostly or entirely online were considered. The rankings made no distinction between the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.

The addition of Best Online MBA Programs was one of the biggest changes to the rankings. While U.S. News has ranked online graduate business programs since 2012, previous editions combined MBA and non-MBA programs into a single ranking. Non-MBA master's programs in areas such as accounting and finance continue to be ranked, but in a separate category. Both methodologies focus on factors such as faculty credentials, selectivity and reputation.

Similar factors were also used in the first rankings of online graduate criminal justice programs, though the methodologies used different weights. The rankings include both criminal justice and criminology master's degrees, since students tend to research both when choosing a program.

Revisions to the methodologies used to assess other online programs led to some changes in the rankings. In the case of online bachelor's degrees, for example, U.S. News significantly decreased the weight given to a program's percentage of tenured faculty, reflecting that many of those programs are more focused on vocational skills than on research.

However, the most dramatic movement in the rankings was caused by the schools themselves, as they reported new or more complete information about their programs.

[Find out how much you know about online learning.]

Below is a sampling of some of the top online programs this year.

Bachelor's: This year's top finisher among online bachelor's programs, Penn State--World Campus, moved up from a third-place tie in last year's rankings. Daytona State College, University of Illinois--Chicago and Western Kentucky University tied for No. 2. Western Kentucky jumped up from a tie for the 87th spot after reporting several data points it didn't provide for the 2014 rankings.

Among other big shake-ups on the list was Central Michigan University's drop from a tie at No. 1 last year to a tie at No. 13.

MBA: While Indiana, Temple and UNC tied for the top spot, the University of Florida's Hough Graduate School of Business and Arizona State University's Carey School of Business tied for No. 4 in the new MBA ranking.

[Explore the top 20 Best Online MBA Programs.]

Business (master's): Among non-MBA online graduate business programs, Indiana was ranked No. 1 for its offerings, which included marketing and finance. The University of Texas--Dallas followed at No. 2. Arizona State tied with the University of Connecticut for the third spot.

Engineering (master's): The University of California--Los Angeles (Samueli) earned the highest distinction among online graduate engineering programs, trading places with Columbia University (Fu Foundation), which placed No. 2. University of Southern California (Viterbi) placed No. 3.

Criminal Justice (master's): Following UC--Irvine in the first ranking of online graduate criminal justice programs were Arizona State, Boston University and Pace University in a tie for No. 2.

Computer Information Technology (master's): For the third year in a row, the University of Southern California placed No. 1 among online graduate programs in computer information technology. Virginia Tech took second place, and Boston University took the third spot.

Education (master's): Among online master's in education programs, University of Houston -- previously tied for No. 3 -- took the top spot. Florida State University, which tied at No. 61 last year, placed No. 2. The school earned improved marks on its faculty credentials and also reported several data points that it didn't last year. Northern Illinois University, last year's best performer, came in third.

Nursing (master's): Medical University of South Carolina earned first place in the rankings of online nursing master's programs, switching spots with St. Xavier University, which placed second. Johns Hopkins University and the University of South Carolina tied for the third spot.

Trying to fund your online education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for Online Education center.

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.