U.S. News & World Report Ranks Best Online MBA Programs for the First Time

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Choosing a high-quality online MBA program may have just gotten easier with the addition of its own rankings category from U.S. News & World Report.
For the 2015 Best Online Programs rankings, Best Online MBA Programs has become its own category for the first time. Non-MBA business programs are still covered under the Best Online Graduate Business Programs category.

Online programs are becoming more common. One in four students in the fall of 2012 took at least one online course, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Since MBA students are often working professionals, online classes can be a more convenient option.

A unique set of data was used to create the rankings for Best Online MBA Programs. Reputation and the selectivity of a school’s admission process are important factors for most online MBA programs, so they were important factors in the rankings for this category as well.

Five categories were used to create the Best Online MBA rankings, with varying weight per category. Student engagement makes up 28% of the score, admissions selectivity makes up 25%, peer reputation makes up 25%, faculty credentials and training makes up 11% and student services and technology makes up 11%.
Only 195 schools met all the credentials to be included in the 2015 Best Online MBA rankings.

Indiana University, Temple University and the University of North Carolina tied for the No. 1 spot in the Best Online MBA rankings.

Here are the schools that made the top ten online MBA programs for 2015:

1. Indiana University—Bloomington (Kelley)
1. Temple University (Fox)
1. University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
4. Arizona State University (Carey)
4. University of Florida (Hough)
6. University of Texas—Dallas
7. Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
7. Pennsylvania State University—World Campus
9. North Carolina State University (Jenkins)
10. Auburn University
10. University of Wiscons in —Eau Claire