U.S. News Ranks Southeast’s Online Bachelor’s Programs Tops in Missouri
01/10/2017

Southeast’s Online Graduate Programs Also Among Nation’s Best

Southeast Missouri State University’s online bachelor’s degree programs are the highest ranking online bachelor’s degree programs in Missouri, according to the U.S. News Best Online Programs 2017 rankings announced today. Southeast’s online bachelor’s degree programs are ranked 28th nationally. U.S. News ranked these programs on how they are delivered and the effectiveness of institutions in awarding affordable degrees in a reasonable amount of time. U.S. News also assessed schools on student engagement, faculty credentials and training, student services and technology, and peer reputation. Online bachelor’s degree programs offered at Southeast include Bachelor’s of Science in nursing, healthcare management, computer information systems, technology management, criminal justice, business administration, interdisciplinary studies and general studies, and Bachelor’s of Arts in psychology and social science. The U.S. News rankings evaluate degree-granting online programs – both online bachelor’s and online master’s degree programs -- at regionally accredited institutions. Southeast’s online MBA program and online graduate programs in business, criminal justice and education also are among the U.S. News Best Online Programs for 2017 announced today. Southeast’s online MBA program is ranked 82^nd. Southeast’s online graduate programs in business, which assess master’s level business degree programs that are not MBA programs in areas such as management and healthcare management, are ranked 87^th. Southeast’s online graduate programs in criminal justice are ranked 39^th.  The University’s online graduate programs in education are listed at 84th. These include elementary education, elementary or secondary school administration, teacher leadership, exceptional child education, exceptional education, secondary education and applied behavior analysis. Graduate program rankings are based on student engagement, admissions selectivity, peer reputation, faculty credentials and training, and student services and technology. “We are very pleased to see that we have improved on our already high rankings in a number of areas.  The overall ranking of 28^th in the nation for our online bachelors’ programs is particularly gratifying,” said Dr. Allen Gathman, dean of Online Learning, interim dean of Graduate Studies and director of the Center for Scholarship in Teaching and Learning. “These rankings reflect the hard work of our faculty, who have developed high-quality instructional materials for online teaching, and who provide rapid and personal feedback and help to students. “They also reflect the efforts of an excellent support staff, including online advisors, tech support professionals, and instructional designers,” Gathman added. “As of this coming fall, all of our online courses will conform to the nationally recognized Quality Matters standards of excellence in online course design.  We expect our rankings to continue to be strong as we invest time, talent, and resources into our online programs.”