USNews.com online bachelor's degree rankings

[publius2k4]

This lists bachelors degree schools in order by rank. I'm sure that Excelsior and TESC would score much higher in a Master's list, which Charter Oak could not compete with.

Charter Oak landed 15th place

Excelsior College landed in 89th.

Western Governors University landed 151st.

I looked, but it doesn't appear that Thomas Edison was ranked

[rebel100]

I like it! Thomas who?

[sanantone]

For Thomas Edison State College, it says "rank not published." I never knew what that was supposed to mean exactly, but I know it doesn't mean that the school is unranked. TESC's MSN program still managed to be ranked up against brick and mortar programs, which is something EC and COSC have yet to accomplish.

Thomas Edison State College | Overall Rankings | Best College | US News

[sanantone]

Rank Not Published means that U.S. News did calculate a numerical ranking and score for that school, but decided for editorial reasons that since the school ranked below the U.S. News cutoff (the top three fourths of each ranking category are numerically ranked) that U.S. News would not publish the ranking and score for that school on usnews.com.

U.S. News will supply schools listed as Rank Not Published with their numerical rankings and score, if they submit a request following the procedures listed in the Information for School Officials page. Schools marked as Rank Not Published are listed alphabetically.

Unranked means that U.S. News did not calculate a numerical ranking for that school. The school did not qualify to be numerically ranked by U.S. News. Schools marked as Unranked are listed alphabetically and are listed below those marked as Rank Not Published.

U.S. News believes that because these schools are unable to report key educational characteristics or because they have certain other characteristics, it would be unfair to try to compare them statistically with the other schools that are part of the rankings. There is a more detailed explanation above and in the general methodology for why a school is Unranked.

Frequently Asked Questions: Best Colleges Rankings - US News and World Report

[taylor]

That's cool that COSC and Excelsior are getting recognition...poor TESC =( Only it seems odd to me that COSC would be ranked higher than University of Florida, GWU, and ASU.

[sanantone]

That's cool that COSC and Excelsior are getting recognition...poor TESC =( Only it seems odd to me that COSC would be ranked higher than University of Florida, GWU, and ASU.

No need to feel bad for TESC, expecially considering that it has a lot more students than COSC and it doesn't feel the need to gouge students on tuition (Excelsior) and coerce them into taking ECEs and Excelsior courses. :p TESC managed to beat out all of the traditional colleges in New Jersey with their CPA passing rate a couple of years ago. The rankings are partially based on faculty credentials (TESC has mentors) and student support services (we all know that TESC has terrible customer service). But, to say that TESC was not ranked is untrue. Their rank was not published.
Methodology: Best Online Bachelor's Programs Rankings - US News and World Report

[taylor]

I'm not a hater. I don't think any of us chose the Big 3 because of rankings. But I'd love to hear a COSC alum trying to convince a University of Florida alum that COSC is ranked higher academically online or not. It would probably sound something like this. COSC alum: You know our school is ranked higher than yours. UF alum: Are you stupid? COSC alum: No seriously. UF alum: Are you on drugs? COSC alum: We're ranked 15th. UF alum: Get away from me you crazy son of a b$tch!!!

[sanantone]

I'm not a hater. I don't think any of us chose the Big 3 because of rankings. But I'd love to hear a COSC alum trying to convince a University of Florida alum that COSC is ranked higher academically online or not. It would probably sound something like this. COSC alum: You know our school is ranked higher than yours. UF alum: Are you stupid? COSC alum: No seriously. UF alum: Are you on drugs? COSC alum: We're ranked 15th. UF alum: Get away from me you crazy son of a b$tch!!!

That's because the ranking includes online student support services. Many traditional colleges are still lacking in this area. Student loan debt is also a factor. It's easy to keep student loan debt low when you take almost 120 transfer credits from non-traditional sources. Honestly, there is no way that COSC will have more prestige than UF just because of a ranking of online degree programs.

Western International University is ranked 104 over better universities. I can personally say that WIU's academic quality is very low. Half of the students are near illiterate and the coursework is nothing but a bunch of easy busy work. Rutger's rank is also not published. Are we to seriously believe that WGU is better than Rutgers?

[bluebooger]

I don't understand the ranking at all

for Best Online Bachelor's Programs
Best Online Bachelors Programs | Online Bachelors Rankings | US News

they have a criteria called "Student Engagement" which is supposed to measure "This measures student satisfaction and instructor responsiveness."

but if you look at how they determine "Student Engagement"
Methodology: Best Online Bachelor's Programs Rankings - US News and World Report
, I see very few that I would say actually measure student satisfaction.

short answer exams have unique login passwords, are non-duplicated, and have random order questioning; <- no
policies of instructors tracking, reviewing, and providing feedback on student participation; <- yes
frequencies of instructors tracking, reviewing, and providing feedback on student participation; <- yes
school tracks students after graduation; <- no
collaborative coursework; <- no
formal copyright policy; <- yes (good to have it spelled out I guess, so you know for sure what the rules are)
anti-plagiarism policy; <- yes (good to have it spelled out I guess, so you know for sure what the rules are)
American Disabilities Act policy; <- yes
certified instructional designers; <- no
students sign ethics statement; <- no
instructor response timeframe; <- yes
instructor office hours. <- maybe

it just seems like a very weird way to measure student satisfaction

how about number of students that drop a course, or withdraw from the school, or number of complaints

what would you use to determine "Student Satisfaction"

[sanantone]

I sure wouldn't use collaborative coursework! That's actually one of the most common complaints I've seen about schools like UoP. There is usually only one person in the group willing to do the work or even capable of doing the work satisfactorily. The group projects failed so much when I attended Colorado Tech, I noticed that the instructors started to just cancel them.