The University of Scranton’s Online Graduate Programs Lead National Ranking for Student Engagement

When it comes to “Teaching Practices and Student Engagement,” The University of Scranton ranked No. 1 nationally for online MBA programs and rank No. 2 nationally for online graduate education programs, according to a new ranking of online degree programs published Tuesday, Jan. 10, by U.S. News & World Report. 

The new rankings looked at online graduate degree programs in business, education, engineering, nursing and computer information technology offered by both nonprofit and for-profit institutions. The online listing ranks schools by degree program offered in categories such as “Teaching Practices and Student Engagement,” “Student Services and Technology,” “Faculty Credentials and Training,” and “Admissions Selectivity,” as well as a general “Honor Roll” listing of schools that scored the highest in three of the four categories.

“The faculty and staff in our online programs strive to offer the finest master’s level Jesuit university education in the nation. The U.S. News rankings illustrate that we are achieving this goal,” said W. Jeffrey Welsh, Ph.D., dean of the University’s College of Graduate and Continuing Education.

The “Teaching Practices and Student Engagement” ranking considers such factors as requirements for student collaboration, reviewing the quality of and providing feedback on student participation, average class size, timeliness of responses to student questions, anti-plagiarism screening protocols, national or international accreditation, and other factors.

“To be ranked No. 1 in the important area of student engagement among such a competitive field of online business schools is a great honor for Scranton’s online MBA program and a significant verification of our success in one of the most critical areas for a school, that of engaging our students,” said Michael Mensah, Ph.D., dean of the University’s Kania School of Management.

The University’s online MBA program also ranked No. 13 in “Student Services and Technology,” which looked at online access to live streaming audio, recorded video, online chat rooms, online access to academic advising, and other factors. The online MBA program ranked No. 60 for “Faculty Credentials and Training,” which considered the percentage of faculty with Ph.D.s and terminal degrees and the percentage of faculty with more than two years of online teaching experience, among other factors.

The University’s graduate degree programs in education ranked No. 2 for “Teaching Practices and Student Engagement,” No. 16 for “Faculty Credentials and Training,” and No. 54 for “Student Services and Technology.”

“We are proud that our education faculty have been recognized for their innovativeness in online learning,” said Dr. Welsh.

The University of Scranton offers online, the Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) in general business, enterprise resource planning, healthcare management and operations management and a Master of Science degree (MS) in the education fields of curriculum and instruction and educational administration (K-12).

For technology, recruitment and marketing support, The University of Scranton partners with Deltak for the online MBA degree program and with Bisk Education for online graduate education degree programs.

In other rankings published by U.S. News & World Report, The University of Scranton has been named as one of the top 10 “Best Regional Universities” in the North for 18 consecutive years, as well as in its list of “Great Schools at a Great Price” for eight consecutive years, and among just 45 up and coming schools in the nation in the 2012 edition. Scranton is also among “America’s Best Graduate Schools” listed in the U.S. News & World Report guidebook.