2021 Best Online Colleges (based on ROI)

[ss20ts]

Maybe this is the beginning of rebuilding Capella's reputation.

I'm not sure how U of V is #1. Their website is a mess. It's so difficult finding their online degrees. And they don't offer anything spectacular for undergrad degrees. Just a basic liberal arts degree and the professional studies in health management degree. I expected more from them considering what the school is. Weird to see NU on the list but not NAU. I read on here last week that NU had 6 graduates last year so it really makes me wonder about this list. Your location will also have a great deal to do with ROI.

https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid320043

Capella owns Sophia and takes their credits along with CLEP, DSST up to I think 90 credits.

They are more expensive than say WGU but if you can graduate in less than a year and get the Pell Grant, then it's not a bad deal.

I saw some bad reviews from the people going for their doctoral degrees so maybe there are some issues with those types of degrees.

I know Capella's parent company owns Sophia. Capella has had a bad rep for quite some time. I have hoped they would rebuild it. It's one of the CBE grad schools I'm considering. I do worry about the rep though. They've had a class action lawsuit over their doctoral degrees that's still ongoing. That situation is pretty ugly. They've also had issues with the feds over their financial aid practices. Their rep has been bad for years....long before the lawsuit.

Why do so many people on here assume one can qualify for a Pell grant? That seems like the go to thing.

[TechNerd]

I noticed a couple people mentioned NAU and instead of making a whole post I'll just ask here.

I was wondering if anyone has done any of there competency-based degrees? I heard the entire degree is non-proctored but everything is written exams/essays. Just wanted to confirm if that was true? I learn the material and retain it way better through written finals/exams versus memorizing and testing so this would be perfect for me if true. Plus for $3000 every 6 months seems like a steal.

I'd be interested in the BS-Computer Information Technology degree if that matters.

[LevelUP]

Why do so many people on here assume one can qualify for a Pell grant? That seems like the go to thing.

Costs nothing to apply for federal student aid.

If you take the capstone/cornerstone together at TESU you can get the Pell Grant if you qualify.

TESU takes the Pell Grant amount and divides it by 3 ($2115 max) so 2 courses would cost you under $200 total if you qualify for the full amount and considering you still had the study.com discount.

It's pretty easy to figure out how much Pell Grant you qualify for if you live on your own. With parents gets tricky if you try to claim independence considering they make a lot of money.

[Merlin]

I am happy to see EC, TESU, and WGU on here. I am surprised that Walden wasn't on the list and schools no one has ever heard of and only have a handful of degrees are on instead. I heard of Walden years ago.....long before I knew of this forum.

I did notice one big name in the online degree world that is missing. That's U of Phoenix. I know they have a bad rap, but they do offer a number of degrees. Grand Canyon University is also missing as is Liberty. It's an interesting mix on this list. 

I would not expect to see Walden, U Phoenix, or GCU on that list considering it is based on ROI. I'm not sure about GCU, but I know that Walden and UoP are known for charging exorbitant tuition prices. They have also been accused of stringing people along longer to maximize the amount of time it takes to graduate, extending the amount of tuition they can extract. From what I understand, GCU is also overpriced, though I haven't looked into their programs specifically to verify.

That said, the list isn't a list of well-known online colleges, it is supposed to be a list of online colleges ranked by ROI. By that, I assume it means a combination of low tuition (or fast graduation to limit the amount paid) combined with graduation & placement rates as well as the average starting salary for graduates. At least that is how I would expect the ROI to be measured.

Given the above, I feel their current ROI calculation rationale is flawed since they appear to ignore competency-based acceleration and ACE credit options to move more quickly through a degree program. Given that, I'm sure the Big 3, WGU, NAU, and the other competency-based programs would place prominently in the top 10.

[nomaduser]

I'm interested in NAU too. The school is not very popular in US... and they don't have many popular alumni.
But their WA Franke College of Business is ranked among top 100th in US:
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-sch...sity-01008

So it may worth getting a Business Administration degree through their online program.
Their original out-of-state tuition at the business school is $24,484. If you can get their business degree for $3k in 6 months, it's going to be a good deal.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

In my opinion, Northeastern University is the best. I was once accepted to their Boston campus. It's crazy that I rejected that offer. I always regret that decision. Back then, they used to rank 90th in the US. But now they rank among top 50th in US. I believe they can reach to ivy-league level in the next 15 years. However, their tuition fee is too expensive.

If anyone's interested, NE provides an outstanding case study in "gaming" the U.S. News rankings to their benefit.

It's clearly worked for them: the only reason any of my families here consider applying is due to this perception of quality, rocketing up from #162 in the 1990s to among the Top 50 now, like you said. I feel like if more families here understood which factors funnel into those rankings, they'd focus more on fit for their children, but students here use it as a safety school, so the university rakes in early application fees.

I absolutely agree the tuition is too expensive, but that's also the higher education arms race at work. They definitely won't be considered Ivy-level (~Top 20) without significant changes to the ranking formula. To reach that caliber, NE would have to surpass mainstays like UCLA, Emory, and Carnegie-Mellon; even NYU is in the way. There are just diminishing returns to their investments at this point.

[TechNerd]

I'm interested in NAU too. The school is not very popular in US... and they don't have many popular alumni.
But their WA Franke College of Business is ranked among top 100th in US:
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-sch...sity-01008

So it may worth getting a Business Administration degree through their online program.
Their original out-of-state tuition at the business school is $24,484. If you can get their business degree for $3k in 6 months, it's going to be a good deal.

Hopefully we find some info out! I might just contact them and see if they will answer some questions. That BSCIT degree has me intrigued for $3000 per 6 months. Plus if it's completely non-proctored that would work out well for me (if that's true.)

[nomaduser]

Hopefully we find some info out! I might just contact them and see if they will answer some questions. That BSCIT degree has me intrigued for $3000 per 6 months. Plus if it's completely non-proctored that would work out well for me (if that's true.)

I've asked them if they have any payment plan option. I'm curious if I can pay them $500 per month through 6 months.
Then it's going to be a no-brainer deal.

However, it looks like they don't like to respond to email inquiries.

[ss20ts]

Why do so many people on here assume one can qualify for a Pell grant? That seems like the go to thing.

Costs nothing to apply for federal student aid.  

If you take the capstone/cornerstone together at TESU you can get the Pell Grant if you qualify.  

TESU takes the Pell Grant amount and divides it by 3 ($2115 max) so 2 courses would cost you under $200 total if you qualify for the full amount and considering you still had the study.com discount.

It's pretty easy to figure out how much Pell Grant you qualify for if you live on your own.  With parents gets tricky if you try to claim independence considering they make a lot of money.

I never said Pell grants had anything to do with federal student aid. You must qualify based on your income for Pell grants. People on here seem to assume that everyone is eligible and can qualify for a Pell grant which is not the case.

---

I am happy to see EC, TESU, and WGU on here. I am surprised that Walden wasn't on the list and schools no one has ever heard of and only have a handful of degrees are on instead. I heard of Walden years ago.....long before I knew of this forum.

I did notice one big name in the online degree world that is missing. That's U of Phoenix. I know they have a bad rap, but they do offer a number of degrees. Grand Canyon University is also missing as is Liberty. It's an interesting mix on this list. 

I would not expect to see Walden, U Phoenix, or GCU on that list considering it is based on ROI. I'm not sure about GCU, but I know that Walden and UoP are known for charging exorbitant tuition prices. They have also been accused of stringing people along longer to maximize the amount of time it takes to graduate, extending the amount of tuition they can extract. From what I understand, GCU is also overpriced, though I haven't looked into their programs specifically to verify.

That said, the list isn't a list of well-known online colleges, it is supposed to be a list of online colleges ranked by ROI. By that, I assume it means a combination of low tuition (or fast graduation to limit the amount paid) combined with graduation & placement rates as well as the average starting salary for graduates. At least that is how I would expect the ROI to be measured.

Given the above, I feel their current ROI calculation rationale is flawed since they appear to ignore competency-based acceleration and ACE credit options to move more quickly through a degree program. Given that, I'm sure the Big 3, WGU, NAU, and the other competency-based programs would place prominently in the top 10.

Rider University costs $45,120 a year according to the link you posted. Walden, U of Phoenix, and GCU are much less than that. Tuition on this list ranges from $6,450 up to $47,740. That's not a brand name school like Harvard either. It's Saint Joseph's University which I'm guessing most people have never heard of. 

The tuition list is also very inconsistent. Looking at SUNY ESC. The list says tuition is $10,943, but when you open the school's profile in the article undergrad tuition goes up to $17,185. The University of Northwestern - St Paul has an even larger difference in the tuition. The website also doesn't specific if they're showing in state tuition or out of state tuition which can be a huge difference. 

This is why I'm always leery of articles like this. They're inconsistent and don't present all of the information.

[TechNerd]

I heard back from NAU. The program is completely self-paced, you turn in assignments (assuming this means that it truly is non-proctored), professors in each class will check in on your progress and you will also be assigned an advisor that checks in on you. You're provided with all the materials you need for each class.

I'm so close to pulling the trigger on this university. I might make a separate thread so more people see it and can maybe give more insight as there is not a lot of info out there about NAU. But this seems really promising.