MSU Ranked in Best Online College State List
Midwestern State University has ranked 11th in Texas in a list of accredited four-year public and private universities for its online degree programs, according to Affordable Colleges Online (AC Online).
In a press release, AC Online founder and CEO Dan Schuessler stated, "We wanted to highlight the schools in each state that are driving innovative learning and meeting demands of students. These schools are not only offering great programs, but they have expanded their program excellence to the much-desired online environment."
To determine the rankings, AC Online researchers and higher education experts developed a proprietary scoring system to rank accredited colleges based on various cost-to-quality criteria and metrics. The metric compares components of colleges with similar costs, against the tuition of colleges with similar quality metrics. The general criteria and scoring metrics include:
— Must be an accredited not-for-profit institution
— Must offer at least three online bachelor's programs
— Annual in-state tuition and fees below $25,000
— Student-faculty ratio
— Loan default rate
— Percentage of beginning, full-time undergraduates receiving financial aid from the college
— Average amount of scholarship/grant aid received from the college
— Job placement and career counseling for graduates
— Six-year graduation rate
MSU has more than a dozen distance education programs available: both bachelor's degrees and master's degrees. Options include applied arts and sciences, nursing, respiratory care, radiologic services, health administration, criminal justice, business administration, sports administration, and a number of education options.
AC Online also recognized MSU for excellence in nursing education. The school ranked 46th on the national list of Best Online Nursing Degrees for 2016. AC Online generated the ranking by analyzing cost and quality metrics across thousands of U.S. colleges with online nursing degree options. MSU was one of only three Texas universities in the top 50.
According to a recent study by the Babson Survey Research Group, the online student population in the country is now greater than 7 million. Texas offers the second most online degree programs of any state in the nation.
AC Online provides students with information about affordable higher education options. The website offers financial aid videos, expert advice, and cost-saving ideas. See the full list at http://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/online-colleges/texas.
The complete list of best online nursing degrees and the methodology can be seen here: affordablecollegesonline.org/degrees/nursing-programs/.
For more information about online degrees, contact Dr. Pamela Morgan at pamela.morgan@msutexas.edu.