US News releases its 2023 ‘Best Online Programs’ rankings. Here’s how Penn State fared
Penn State World Campus largely remains one of the nation’s top-25 online schools when it comes to multiple programs, based on U.S. News and World Report’s annual “Best Online Programs” rankings, which were released Tuesday.
The online campus of Penn State saw mixed success when comparing the results to last year’s, with more net losses than gains. But it still had plenty to boast about — including a tie for the country’s top online program in psychology (bachelor’s) to go with the nation’s No. 3 overall online engineering program (master’s).
But, of the six main programs where Penn State received a ranking, it dropped in four, remained steady in one and gained in another when compared to last year. The falls weren’t overly precipitous, but it continues a trend in the wrong direction.
Education (master’s) dropped eight spots to No. 16, business (non-MBA master’s) dropped four spots to No. 16, business (MBA) fell four spots to No. 19, and overall bachelor’s programs sank nine spots to No. 25. Those four programs all experienced falls last year, too, with all four ranking within the top 10 in 2021.
It’s not entirely clear why the land-grant university’s online campus is losing ground, although U.S. News does take student debt into account in the rankings. Penn State’s ongoing issues with affordability can’t be helping matters.
Of course, the news wasn’t all bad Tuesday when it came to the main programs. Computer information technology (master’s) rose three spots for a tie at No. 10, while the aforementioned engineering (master’s) remained steady with a tie at No. 3.
And, when U.S. News further broke down its main programs into specialty areas, Penn State continued to fare well. Besides psychology (bachelor’s), the World Campus saw its highest rankings in industrial engineering (master’s) at No. 3, educational administration & supervision (master’s) for a tie at No. 3, educational/instructional media design at a tie for No. 4 and three other areas in engineering — electrical, management, mechanical — all respectively placing No. 5.
Penn State World Campus also saw consistently high marks when it came to supporting veterans, earning a top-10 ranking in four of the six programs where it was rated. The master’s engineering program was also named tops in the nation for veterans.
“Penn State remains a high-quality option for online learning with a wide variety of degrees at the bachelor’s and master’s levels,” Karen Pollack, the associate vice provost for Online Education at Penn State, said in a written statement. “We are proud to have one of the broadest portfolios of programs in the country, and we are comprehensive in what we make available to online learners.”
The 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 expert opinion (survey of high-ranking officials). Only programs that are predominantly online qualified for the rankings.
The World Campus’ rankings by US 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. 25 (Last year: t-No. 16)
Bachelor’s subgroups: Business — t-No. 3 (Last year: t-No. 2), Psychology — t-No. 1 (Last year: t-No. 2).
Online MBA Program: Penn State, t-No. 19 (Last year: No. 15)
MBA subgroups: Analytics — t-No. 22 (Last year: t-No. 15), Finance — Unranked (Last year: t-No. 7), Management — t-No. 9 (Last year: t-No. 7), Marketing — t-No. 9 (Last year: t-No. 10).
Online Business Program (master’s/non-MBA): Penn State, t-No. 16 (Last year: t-No. 12)
Online Computer Information Technology Program (master’s): Penn State, t-No. 10 (Last year: No. 13)
Online Education Program (master’s): Penn State, t-No. 16 (Last year: t-No. 8)
Education subgroups: Curriculum & Instruction — No. 8 (Last year: t-No. 5), Administration & Supervision — t-No. 3 (Last year: t-No. 10), Instructional Media Design — t-No. 4 (Last year: No. 3), Special Education — t-No. 7 (Last year: t-No. 7).
Online Engineering Program (master’s): Penn State, No. 3 (Last year: t-No. 3)
Engineering subgroups: Civil — Unranked (Last year: Unranked), Electrical — t-No. 5 (Last year: No. 7), Industrial — No. 3 (Last year: t-No. 2), Management — No. 5 (Last year: No. 3), Mechanical — No. 5 (Last year: t-No. 4).
Online Programs for Veterans: Bachelor’s — No. 15 (Last year: t-No. 11), MBA — t-No. 15 (Last year: No. 10), Business (non-MBA) — No. 7 (Last year: No. 5), Computer Information Technology — No. 6 (Last year: No. 8), Education — t-No. 4 (Last year: No. 3), Engineering — No. 1 (Last year: No. 3).
Online Criminal Justice (master’s): Unranked (Last year: Unranked)
Online Nursing (master’s): Unranked (Last year: Unranked)
