WSU ranked fourth in SuperScholar’s study of the nation’s top online colleges - a ranking which has the potential to bring attention to WSU Online’s degrees and highlight the program’s value for students.
According to its website, SuperScholar works to empower people to make smart choices by connecting them to great ideas and to the best colleges for achieving their dreams. They developed the Smart Choice ranking system to promote this mission statement.
“WSU Online is a pioneer in distance education and has been offering degrees via distance courses since 1992,” said Debra O’Donnell, the director of marketing and student services. “We currently offer seven undergraduate degrees, three graduate degrees and several certificates, with plans for several more programs by fall 2012.”
The ranking could attract positive attention to what WSU Online has to offer students, O’Donnell said. Only regionally accredited colleges and universities were ranked.
“It is always nice to be recognized for your good work,” said Dave Cillay, executive director of the Center for Distance and Professional Education. “There are a lot of online options out there. What we bring to the table, and what this rating recognizes, I believe, is the high quality of WSU academics, no matter how they’re delivered.”
In order to be ranked, an institution has to be a regionally accredited college or university, listed in the National Center for Education Statistics database and offer online bachelor degree programs in multiple disciplines, Cillay said.
Schools that passed the initial screening process were ranked by SuperScholar editors, according to the SuperScholar website. The rankings were based on each school’s perceived credibility, prestige, academic quality, student support services and overall student satisfaction.
For its 2011 Smart Choice rankings, SuperScholar researched 25 regionally accredited online colleges and universities, according to the SuperScholar website. Ranked in the top five were Northeastern University, Duquesne University, Penn State World Campus, WSU and Drexel University.
Cillay said, for him, the recognition is just as much for the individual colleges and professors as for the online program.
“It’s their prestige and reputation and skills that make WSU Online one of the nation’s best online degree programs,” he said.
As the number of online options increase, recognitions such as this help to distinguish WSU from other providers and raises awareness of the high quality that the university places on the educational experience that students receive, Cillay said. These type of rankings are quite subjective.
“Students need to do their own research to determine the university that is right for them,” he said. “That said, it is always nice to be at the top of anyone’s list of high quality options.”