U of A Online Bachelor's Degree Programs Up to No. 16 on Veterans List

Artwork by Caroline Chandler

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Online bachelor’s degree programs at the University of Arkansas ranked No. 16 in the “Best Online Programs for Veterans” announced by U.S. News & World Report earlier this month, rising six places from 2021.

Two other groups of U of A online programs ranked in the top 30 of the list that looks specifically at how programs serve veterans. Online graduate education programs ranked No. 19, and graduate engineering programs ranked No. 29 nationwide.

Online education that is affordable, accessible and reputable greatly benefits veterans and active-duty service members, according to the magazine. The 2022 “Best Online Programs for Veterans” rankings measure these factors in consideration of financial benefits available specifically to people with military experience. 

To ensure academic quality, all schools included in these rankings first have to be ranked among the top half of schools in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 “Best Online Programs” rankings. Online bachelor’s degree programs from four colleges at the U of A ranked at No. 24 this year.

In its ranking for veterans, U.S. News also considered whether institutions were certified to accommodate federal benefits such as the GI Bill and had enrolled at least 25 undergraduates or 10 graduate students with military backgrounds in the past year, according to its ranking methodology.

PROGRAMS OFFERED

Graduate education programs offered online by the College of Education and Health Professions:

• Master's and doctoral degrees in adult and lifelong learning
• Master's degree in community college leadership
• Master's, specialist and doctoral degrees in educational leadership
• Master's degree in educational technology
• Master's and doctoral degrees in human resource and workforce development education
• Education specialist degree in curriculum and instruction
• Master's degree in physical education
• Master's degree in special education
• Master’s degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages

Online bachelor’s degree programs provided by the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the Sam M. Walton College of Business, the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and the College of Education and Health Professions:

• Accounting
• Communication
• English
• General business
• Human resource management
• Human resource and workforce development education
• Human development and family sciences
• Interdisciplinary studies
• Marketing
• Supply chain management
• And programs for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Graduate engineering programs offered online by the College of Engineering are master’s degrees in engineering, electrical engineering and engineering management.

U OF A ONLINE

Providing quality online programs is imperative as more people rely on distance learning to access higher education, both at the U of A and nationwide. The U of A offers more than 75 online degree, certificate, microcertificate and licensure programs.

About 15,770 U of A students took at least one online course in academic year 2021, which represented almost 51.96 percent of the student population. About 12 percent of all U of A students, or 3,733 students, studied exclusively online in the same academic year, according to the 2020-2021 Global Campus annual report. Online course data do not include enrollment for courses that were classified by the campus as “remote” during the pandemic.

Nationwide, more than 7 million students studied at a distance in fall 2019, with nearly half of them taking exclusively distance education courses, according to the National Center for Education Statistics website.

In the last academic year at the U of A, 270 undergraduate students and 858 graduate students earned degrees through online programs.

The Global Campus supports U of A colleges and schools in the development and delivery of online programs and courses. It provides instructional design services, technology services and assistance with marketing, recruiting and strategic academic development.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.