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For each section there are specific qualities that we graded by compiling and analyzing information from various public data sets and reports, referenced in each section’s explanation. We then weighted each college’s grades, and compared them for specific academic programs to create a final ranking. It is important to note that our rankings compile data for both online-only colleges as well as colleges offering online and traditional programs. In some cases, the ranking provided for an online program is influenced by institutional data, which includes both its online and on-campus components. We assume for these rankings that the quality of online education is comparable to that of its on-campus counterparts, where applicable. Read More

Table of Contents

Our methodology consisted of four weighted sections:

1. Institutional Characteristics (17.5 percent)
   • Quality of Accreditation (10 percent)
   • Diversity of Online Programs (2.5 percent)
   • Institutional Resources (5 percent)
2. Affordability and Student Debt (25 percent)
   • Tuition and Debt (5 percent)
   • Student Loan Default Rate (10 percent)
   • College Financial Aid (5 percent)
   • Percentage Change Across Three Years (5 percent)
3. Enrollment, Graduation, and Retention Rates (25 percent)
   • Distance Education Enrollment Rates (5 percent)
   • Graduation Rates (10 percent)
   • Retention Rates (10 percent)
4. Student and Institutional Success (32.5 percent)
   • Salaries of Graduates (15 percent)
   • Student and Alumni Awards (2.5 percent)
   • Other Institutional Rankings (5 percent)
   • Strength of Faculty (10 percent)

• Quality of Accreditation (10 percent). Both programs and schools had their level of accreditation reviewed. Whether the institution received a national and/or regional accreditation status, and from what granting body, contributed to this grade. We used the OPE Accreditation Database compiled by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Post-Secondary Education (OPE).
• Diversity of Online Programs (2.5 percent): We factored in educational platforms offered to students, such as asynchronous, synchronous, or hybrid methods of teaching, as well as the availability of campus access. More options give students the widest choices of teaching styles and learning flexibility, resulting in a higher grade.
• Institutional Resources (5 percent): The key resources we feel impact a student’s success are access to career and employment advisors, tutoring assistance, and library access. Traditional students benefit greatly from these resources, and no online student should be without access to them either. Schools providing students online access to these departments are graded higher.

• Tuition and Debt (5 percent): We researched every school’s cost of tuition, average federal student loan debt total, and percentage of students graduating with federal loan debt. We then created a debt metric that analyzed a student’s vulnerability to debt, depending on the school, to assign grades. Lower debt loads were given higher grades. Also, because focusing on an absolute metric like total debt load or tuition can be misleading, we have balanced this factor with the student loan default rate, explained in the next step.
• Student Loan Default Rate (10 percent): Each school’s student loan default rate is indicative of the strength of the institution. Specifically, top tier schools would have lower default rates because they are able to produce graduates who obtain opportunities with salaries large enough to pay back federal loans. Lower quality schools would have higher default rates, even those with lower absolute tuition and debt loads, because their graduates have a smaller chance of obtaining strong enough careers to fully pay back their debt. Lower default rates were given the highest grades.
• College Financial Aid (5 percent): Beyond federal student loans, students receive other forms of financial aid, such as scholarships, tuition reductions, fellowships, and waivers. Institutions with a larger percentage of their students receiving this type of aid were awarded top grades for this factor.
• Percentage Change Across Three Years (5 percent): Each of the three affordability factors above were finally compared across three-year gaps. It is important to understand the trajectory of a school’s improvement or decline in regard to debt load and financial aid. Schools with promising rates of change, like a downward trend of student loan default rate or an upward trend of providing more financial aid to students, were given the highest grades.