Why should I choose an online college or university?

Choosing to pursue a degree online is an increasingly popular choice for working adults and those with other life commitments—and for good reason! Having a bachelor’s degree is shown to have higher rates of employment as well as higher earning potential than those without one. And thanks to online courses, people with even the busiest of schedules can enjoy a flexible program that meets their needs. Without needing to commute to a campus, students are able to take class from right where they are.

Outside of the traditional on-campus format, online courses also come with the potential for you to finish your degree at a much quicker pace. Many classes lend themselves to having shorter term lengths and/or schedules.

And, of course, there’s the cost. Online courses tend to be significantly cheaper than those on site. Accredited online colleges offer the same quality of courses but at a reduced, wallet-friendly rate.

How do I choose an online college?

Contrary to what a lot of college lists out there might say, there is no #1 school for everyone. The first thing you should do is find out what you want in a college: what program do you want to study? How do you want this school to support you in finding a career, whether that be through career fairs or internships? What resources do you want to have available to you?

Come up with an idea of your wants and needs, and then look around for schools that meet your criteria. Can’t find what you’re looking for? You can always reach out to an admissions counselor at the school(s) you’re interested in; they’re happy to give you all the information you need about their specific programs.

What is the most popular online college?

Here are the best online colleges with the largest number of undergraduate online students along with their online student count:

• Southern New Hampshire University (116,225)
• Western Governors University (107,952)
• Arizona State University-Online (42,709)
• University of Maryland Global Campus (37,793)
• Purdue University Global (32,313)

What is the best online college?

Every student has their own unique needs, skills, and goals, so we can’t tell you exactly where to go to school. What we’ve done instead is look for the schools that provide a high-quality education while excelling in serving their unique student body.

The schools that we recognize are those that we found to excel in what they do best with the understanding that every non-traditional student will have different needs. It’s not about agonizing about getting into the “best” school per se—it’s about finding the best fit, the one that will help them achieve their personal goals.

Our list is not meant to tell you where you should go; rather, it gives you a shorter list of schools that are verified to be high quality. It’s then up to you to find which one will meet your needs.

How long does it take to get an online bachelor’s degree?

A bachelor’s degree online is equivalent to the traditional bachelor’s on campus; therefore, the average completion time for an online degree is four years. Because online degrees are flexible by nature, however, it is possible and common to complete a degree program in much less time.

Options to finish your degree quickly include taking accelerated courses, the terms of which can be half as short at the typical 15-week semester, and prior learning credit, transferable credit that can be applied to your program’s course requirements. Whether you have previously earned credit from college at a different point in your life or otherwise relevant work experience in your field, it is worth it to work with an admissions counselor to see how many credits you can apply to your degree and how much time you can shave off your college career.

Are online degrees legitimate? Do employers like online degrees?

It’s normal to feel a bit skeptical about attending college online. We’ve all seen the cheesy song-and-dance commercials on late-night tv that promise a too-good-to-be-true track to a college degree. And while it’s true that there are some scams out there, real, reputable colleges and universities have gone online to meet the demands and needs of busy 21st-century adults.

The very first you should do to verify whether an online college is legitimate is to check their accreditation. Accrediting bodies are third-party organizations that confirm whether school programs meet a certain set of standards. What you should look for, and what we require for school on Abound: Finish College, is an accreditation from one of these highly regarded accreditors:

• Middle States Commission on Higher Education
• New England Commission on Higher Education
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission
• Higher Learning Commission

This is the best way to ensure not only that you’ll receive a proper education, but also that your hard work will be recognized by employers.

Online degrees are growing more common, and employers are privy to the fact that a degree is valid if it comes from an accredited institution, online or not.

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Best Online Colleges Methodology

Abound was created to help students navigate the often unwieldy world of adult education. Abound: Finish College helps students complete their bachelor’s degrees whether via online courses, in-person, or a little bit of both (commonly called hybrid). Every year, we refine our online colleges cohort to ensure that we have accessible, high-quality schools that remain up to date with how they meet students’ needs. Through Abound’s search module and advice to students, we encourage future students to look at how schools meet what we call the Four As: Accessibility, Affordability, Acceleration, and Advancement.

Accessibility

Accessibility is all about how a college helps a student conveniently access the classes and programs they want.

Affordability

Through financial aid, reduced tuition, scholarships, or grants, our recognized schools commit to making their degrees affordable.

Acceleration

Schools must be leaders in accelerating its students’ time to completion in order to earn its place in our cohort. We want schools that offer adult students a direct path to their degree in the most timely and cost-effective way.

Advancement

Beyond the standard career services offered during students’ enrollment, schools earn their place in our cohort when they exhibit an active interest in students’ long-term success.

These categories encompass the qualities that students will want in order to have an efficient, worthwhile experience. And while they are easy-to-remember factors for students to keep in mind during their own college search, they also inform the more technical grading system that we used to select our cohort.

Read the full methodology for the Best Online Colleges.

The Rankings Problem

Having dominated the entire college search landscape, college rankings contribute to the false narrative that schools can be stacked up against each other and equally considered the “best” or “worst” for everyone in the same way. Numerical ranks create the illusion of certainty, even though every school has its own set of programs, class format options, and resources that specifically cater to different students’ needs. Instead, they are largely measured by arbitrary quantitative data and perceived prestige that can be manipulated by schools in order to climb to the top.

Ultimately, the most popular rankings are especially misleading for adult students who have unique needs that aren’t even considered by traditional rankings systems. Adult-specific metrics are often more qualitative in nature and, therefore, difficult to track (not to mention the fact that they aren’t usually considered in rankings algorithms in the first place). Even more limiting, the rankings fail to acknowledge the fact that adult students with work and personal commitments can’t pack up and move across the country to attend an in-person program outside of their region. All of this means that the leading rankings systems don’t even take into account the non-traditional offerings that are most important for busy adults to have a successful experience.

Abound does not rank our schools; rather, we measure them based on a rigorous review of their qualities as individual institutions. The schools in our cohort are those that we found to excel in what they do best with the understanding that every non-traditional student will have different needs. It’s not about finding the “best” school—it’s about finding the best fit, the one that will help them achieve their personal goals.

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