Online bachelor’s and graduate degree programs offered by Long Island colleges and universities saw their standings rise — in some cases, significantly — in this year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Stony Brook University’s online graduate nursing program once again placed in the top 10 in the nation, advancing one spot to eighth out of more than 200, according to the rankings. It tied with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Patricia Bruckenthal, dean of the School of Nursing, highlighted in a statement the program’s “excellence in engagement,” faculty credentials and peer assessment.
The nursing school, which has included distance learning since the 1990s, has 682 students enrolled in the online program. It includes specialties such as a master’s degree in nursing education, a master’s in nursing leadership and a doctorate of nursing practice.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Online bachelor’s and graduate degree programs offered by Long Island colleges and universities saw their standings rise in this year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings.
- Stony Brook University’s online graduate nursing program once again ranked in the top 10 in the nation.
- Molloy University’s online bachelor’s program took a big leap, from 246th place to 57th.
“This ranking is a testament to not only our faculty expertise, but the clinical opportunities associated with an academic medical center and being part of the No. 1 public university in New York State,” Bruckenthal said.
Stony Brook’s non-MBA business graduate program ranked 74th in the nation and its MBA program came in 147th. The university’s online master’s of education was tied with Hofstra University and three other institutions for 104th place.
U.S. News & World Report evaluated about 1,800 online master’s and bachelor’s degree programs at accredited institutions around the country for this year’s rankings. The organization looked at graduate degree programs in areas such as MBA, non-MBA business, criminal justice, information technology, education, engineering and nursing.
The rankings, released last month, measure “overall academic quality at the baccalaureate and master’s levels across disciplines” and how effective institutions are at awarding affordable degrees in a “reasonable time frame,” according to U.S. News & World Report.
Online degree programs can be useful for students who “wish to further their education but whose life circumstances call for increased flexibility to study outside the confines of a physical classroom,” LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News, said in a news release announcing the annual rankings. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 40% of postbaccalaureate students and 28% of undergraduate students were enrolled in distance learning exclusively in fall 2021, the last year for which data was available.
Double-digit jump
One Long Island institution that made a noticeable gain this year was Hofstra University, whose online MBA program jumped 15 spots, from 29th to 14th place, tied with the University of Maryland.
Kaushik Sengupta, associate dean of the Hempstead university’s business graduate education and executive director of the online MBA program, said there are a couple factors that contributed to the program’s success, including an experienced full time faculty and the flexibility for students to build a strong professional network.
The program, which admits 60 to 70 students every year, is “still small enough, nimble enough, where a student in the cohort can build those relationships with the faculty, alumni and with current students,” Sengupta said. “But it also gives them the space to do the program in the way they want to.”
Full time students take about 16 months to complete the program. It take about two years if they attend part time, Sengupta said.
“We’ve come a long way since we started the program in 2011,” he noted.
Kaushik Sengupta, executive director of Hofstra University’s online MBA program, in Guthart Hall at the Frank G. Zarb School of Business. Credit: Newsday / Steve Pfost
New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury saw an eight-spot increase for its online master’s program in engineering, which came in at 66th this year.
“This ranking reflects our commitment to providing high-quality, flexible and industry-driven education that meets the evolving needs of professionals in the energy sector,” Babak D. Beheshti, dean of the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences, said in a statement. “Our continued growth in enrollment and investment in cutting-edge curriculum, faculty expertise and technology-enhanced learning experiences have contributed to this success.”
NYIT was also tied at 147th for its online master’s in education program.
Big leap for Molloy
In the online bachelor’s degree category, the University at Buffalo took the top spot for the second year in a row. The only Long Island school to crack the list in that category was Molloy University in Rockville Centre, which came in at 57th, marking a sizable leap from its 246th spot last year.
“Molloy is committed to responding to student demand for programs that accommodate their busy schedules and that help them achieve their life goals,” Michelle Piskulich, university provost and vice president for academic affairs, said in a statement. “Online and partially online programs make higher education more accessible to learners across the lifespan who need flexibility to enroll or remain enrolled.”
Molloy’s non-MBA business master’s program was ranked in a bracket between 239 and 313, and the university’s MBA program was ranked in a separate grouping between 272 and 313.
Adelphi University in Garden City was tied for 118th in the online education master’s category, while St. Joseph’s University in Patchogue ranked in a bracket between 156 and 205 for its non-MBA business graduate program and in another bracket between 272 and 355 in the MBA category.