2023 Best Online Programs Ranking Includes WI Schools: U.S. News

WISCONSIN — Several bachelor’s and master’s programs at accredited universities in Wisconsin were ranked among the 2023 Best Online Programs released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

The rankings are designed for people who want to complete their bachelor’s and master’s degrees, but need the flexibility to complete the coursework online. U.S. News is the only media organization that ranks online degrees at the program rather than school level.

U.S. News ranked programs in eight disciplines. Programs in Wisconsin that made the grade are:

Bachelor’s Degree

• University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee at No. 45.
• Herzing University at No. 104.
• University of Wisconsin - Whitewater at No. 104.
• Maranatha Baptist University at No. 129.

MBA

• University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium at No. 9.
• University of Wisconsin Whitewater at No. 27.
• Herzing University at No. 169.

Master's Business, Non-MBA

• University of Wisconsin - Whitewater at No. 57.

Master's Computer Information Technology

• Marquette University at No. 20.

Master's Education

• University of Wisconsin - Madison at No. 4.
• University of Wisconsin - La Crosse at No. 52.
• University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point at No. 169.
• University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee at No. 189.
• Maranatha Baptist University at No. 204.

Master's Engineering

• University of Wisconsin - Madison at No. 8.

Master's Nursing

• Marquette University at No. 21.
• Herzing University at No. 68.

More rankings of Wisconsin's best 2023 online university programs.

U.S. News evaluated some 1,832 programs — the highest in the history of the rankings — to arrive at the 2023 list. Of those, 1,730 were ranked.

Online learning increased in popularity at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. News noted, but many of the institutions whose programs are ranked were ahead of the curve and had offered online programs for years.

Most of those evaluated offer degree completion programs that give students who have completed some of the requirements the flexibility to complete their degrees, according to Eric Brooks, the lead data analyst at U.S. News.

“The methodology is developed with those students in mind, setting these rankings apart from those that are focused on recent high school graduates pursuing higher education for the first time,” Brooks said in a news release.

While the methodologies are different for each discipline, they all incorporate metrics specific to online learning.

The online bachelor’s level ranking does not use standardized tests, instead relying on other factors such as faculty credentials and training, services and technologies available to students, student engagement and expert opinion on the academic quality of programs.

Master’s degree programs, in addition to these criteria, are also ranked based on student excellence. Blended learning programs — a combination of both face-to-face and distance instruction — are not included in the rankings.