Utah State University-Online was selected as having the fifth best online bachelor’s programs nationwide by U.S. News & World Report, widely regarded as one of the preeminent college ranking systems. The selections were released today after a competitive screening process of over 300 universities, with USU being ranked the highest within Utah for online bachelor’s degrees.

According to U.S. News & World Report, ranking criteria were based upon: student engagement, faculty credentials, peer reputation, student services and technology.

“USU-Online has consistently been ranked in the top 20 online programs for the past few years,” said Robert Wagner, vice president of Academic and Instructional Services at USU. “This year our team focused on optimizing our online efforts, creating an effective educational environment for faculty and students.”

USU offers seven online bachelor’s degrees such as communicative disorders and deaf education, economics and psychology. It also offers six online master’s degrees such as instructional technology & learning sciences and education, which also ranked fifth for the 2018 best online graduate education programs. In addition to its 100 percent online degree programs, USU-Online also delivers over 350 individual online courses every semester to nearly 13,000 students in Utah and throughout the world.

“Through USU-Online, our university is able to deliver our high quality courses and instruction to students across the world,” said Larry Smith, USU’s interim provost. “We are dedicated to supporting USU-Online with top resources to ensure online students have what they need to be successful.”

According to U.S. News & World Report, ranking criteria were based upon: student engagement, faculty credentials, peer reputation, student services and technology. USU faculty who teach online courses continue to surpass the high standards set for the quality of content administered to students.