Rankings Of Distance Education Programs?

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Q. Does anyone know of a ranking of the quality of distance education programs, similar to those that are published on conventional programs? I'm looking for more than just accreditation -- who has the most respected programs?

A. Rankings of schools are always suspect as you really need to look at the criteria used for ranking them. If you are into rankings there are two initial approaches for the DL schools. First, you can find the schools that offer DL programs and look up those schools in the conventional ranking lists you noted. Also, with a bit of research you can find the Forbes magazine article (I think it was published last year) on the top 20 cyberschools. Ranking schools is a very subjective thing. To a large extent, the best accredited school depends on what you want to do and your abilities. For instance, Stanford or Georgia Tech's distance learning programs may be exceptional programs. However, if you don't have the aptitude or the desire to earn an MS in Engineering, they aren't likely to be of much value to you. I appreciate your dilemma and have dealt with it myself when researching for my site. My only advice is choosing the accredited program that matches your interests and your talents. You'll have more fun learning, stand a better chance of completing the program and be better prepared to reach your professional goals. On this issue, your own "top ten" list is more valuable than mine or anyone else's. I or anyone could give you a listing a big name schools, yet none of them could help you reach your goal. I could also give you a list of millionaires and billionaires (as well as CEO's and high ranking officials) who went to little-known accredited schools. Their success came from taking the educational tools they acquired and combining them with passion innovation and hard work. Long-time readers of Bears' Guide may remember that I tried this once, 8th edition I think it was, about 12 or 13 years ago. I had a scale of 1 to 9, represented by nine faces, ranging from one that looked rather nauseated to one with a huge smile. I managed to upset and offend just about everyone, because I was trying to use two sliding scales at the same time leading to a single rating: one scale was on the general quality of the school, and one on the innovativeness of the distance learning program itself. Just wasn't possible in a single rating. For instance, the rather anemic off-campus offerings of Harvard had a lower rating that the really innovative ones of Southern Illinois University.

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