US News releases its 2024 ‘Best Online Programs’ rankings. Here’s how Penn State fared
Penn State continues to fare well when it comes to the top online programs in the nation — but it also continues to slip from year-to-year, based on the latest edition of U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Online Programs” rankings.
In the 2024 rankings, which were released Wednesday, Penn State World Campus beat out a majority of its Big Ten peers by tying for No. 32 nationally in its online bachelor’s program — although it ranked No. 25 last year and No. 16 the year before.
In most categories, it was the same story. Penn State World Campus turned in rankings that would make most Big Ten peers blush, but the rankings were still a slight downgrade from last year. Which was a slight downgrade from the year before.
Out of 23 total categories that received rankings in 2023 and 2024, Penn State rose in two categories, stayed the same in four and dropped in 17. No drop was overly precipitous, with the biggest fall (7 spots) coming in one of the most important categories, the overall online bachelor’s program.
Still, there was plenty to boast about in the new rankings. For the second straight year, Penn State World Campus finished with U.S. News’ best online psychology (bachelor’s) program in the nation. It tied for No. 3 in business (bachelor’s), No. 3 in engineering (master’s) and No. 7 in information technology (master’s).
University President Neeli Bendapudi has previously acknowledged such rankings are important in that, despite some institutions’ criticism, prospective students will still look at them. But officials, at Penn State and elsewhere, have questioned the accuracy and fairness of such rankings.
Karen Pollack, Penn State’s associate vice provost for online education, addressed the newest rankings in a written statement.
“While individual rankings can provide meaningful insights, it’s important to understand that there are limitations,” she said. “Penn State World Campus saw some of its rankings shift despite few changes in the way we respond to U.S. News’ surveys.
“Even if a Penn State World Campus program’s score may have seen little change or even stayed the same, other schools’ scores may have changed as well, resulting in small shifts in the rankings from one year to the next. We are continually evaluating our online offerings to make certain we are delivering the excellent programs that have made Penn State a leader in the online learning space, and that prepare our students for success.”
U.S. News’ ranking methodologies varied by program but primarily centered on student services and technology (e.g. mean student debt, technological infrastructure), student engagement (graduation rate, class size, etc.), faculty credentials (percentage with doctorate/terminal degree, tenured percentage, etc.), student excellence (undergrad GPA, acceptance rate, etc.) and peer assessment (survey of high-ranking officials). Only programs that are predominantly online qualified for the rankings.
The World Campus’ rankings by U.S. News and how they compared to last year can be seen below. For full rankings or more information, visit usnews.com/education/online-education.
Online Bachelor’s Program: Penn State, tied-No. 34 (Last year: t-No. 25; 2022: t-16)
Bachelor’s subgroups: Business — t-No. 3 (Last year: t-No. 3; 2022: t-No. 2); Psychology — No. 1 (Last year: t-No. 1; 2022: t-No.2)
Online MBA Program: Penn State, t-No. 22 (Last year: t-No. 19; 2022: No. 15)
MBA subgroups: Analytics — Unranked (Last year: t-No. 22; 2022: t-No. 15); Finance — t-No. 13 (Last year: Unranked; 2022: t-No. 7); Management — t-No. 11 (Last year: t-No. 9; 2022: t-No. 7); Marketing — Unranked (Last year: t-No. 9; 2022: t-No. 10)
Online Business Program (master’s/non-MBA): Penn State, t-No. 18 (Last year: t-No. 16; 2022: No. 12)
Online Information Technology Program (master’s): Penn State, No. 7 (Last year: t-No. 10; 2022: No. 13)
Online Education Program (master’s): Penn State, t-No. 19 (Last year: t-No. 16; 2022: t-No. 8)
Education subgroups: Curriculum & Instruction — No. 10 (Last year: No. 8; 2022: t-No. 5); Administration & Supervision — t-No. 9 (Last year:t-No. 3; 2022: t-No. 10); Instructional Media Design — No. 7 (Last year: t-No. 4; 2022: No. 3); Special Education — t-No. 13 (Last year: t-No. 7; 2022: t-No. 7)
Online Engineering Program (master’s): Penn State, t-No. 3 (Last year: No. 3; 2022: t-No. 3)
Engineering subgroups: Civil — Unranked (Last year: Unranked: 2022: Unranked); Electrical — t-No. 11 (Last year: t-No. 5; 2022: No. 7); Industrial — No. 6 (Last year: No. 3; 2022: t-No. 2); Management — t-No. 5 (Last year: No. 5; 2022: No. 3); Mechanical — t-No. 7 (Last year: No. 5; 2022: t-No. 4)
Online Programs for Veterans: Overall Bachelor’s — t-No. 20 (Last year: No. 15; 2022: t-No. 11); MBA — t-No. 20 (Last year: t-No. 15; 2022: No. 10); Business (master’s/non-MBA) — t-No. 9 (Last year: No. 7; 2022: No. 5); Information Technology — No. 4 (Last year: No. 6; 2022: No. 8); Education — t-No. 8 (Last year: t-No. 4; 2022: No. 3); Engineering — No. 2 (Last year: No. 1; 2022: No. 3)
Online Criminal Justice (master’s): Unranked (Last year: Unranked; 2022: Unranked)
Online Nursing (master’s): Unranked (Last year: Unranked; 2022: Unranked)
