School of Education ranked No. 2 online education program

Latest U.S. News rankings show large jump for IU School of Education

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Indiana University's School of Education made a major move in the 2014 rankings of the Best Online Education Programs by U.S. News and World Report, placing No. 2 among online education programs.

The School of Education joined the IU Kelley School of Business, whose Kelley Direct online MBA program ranked No. 1 among online business programs, as the highest-ranked of several IU programs making the U.S. News list. The online bachelor's degree program at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne also was ranked by U.S. News, at ninth. Graduate programs at the IU School of Nursing at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis moved from 37th in 2013 to 32nd this year.

U.S. News revised its rankings methodology to recognize the importance of student engagement, faculty credentials, student services and technology.

John Applegate, IU executive vice president for university academic affairs, said the improvement in rankings and IU's growing number of online degree programs reflect its status as a leader. 2013 was a pivotal year for the IU Online educational initiative.

"These impressive accomplishments across a range of campuses and degree programs at IU demonstrate that online education is an important and high-quality element of the IU educational experience, as envisioned by President McRobbie's online initiative," Applegate said. "These results and the continued growth of IU Online reflect IU's status as a leader in this field."

The IU School of Education was 14th last year, but jumped to second among nearly 200 similar education programs in the latest rankings.

IU School of Education Dean Gerardo Gonzalez said U.S. News' recognition is the result of major efforts to place more courses online and develop new certificates and degree programs, while working systematically to improve admissions standards, professional development and technical support to deliver high-quality online instruction. Several new certificates and degree programs were launched in 2013.

"Our faculty has had a long history of creating innovative practices to improve instruction and student learning. Long before online education became popular, members of our faculty were researching how to design and deliver such instruction at the highest level of quality," Gonzalez said.

"Our commitment to online education has increased rapidly in recent years, and the result in terms of both new programs and program quality are evident in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. I was pleased but not surprised to see us ranked among the very top online programs in the country."

Online courses and degree programs began at the IU School of Education in 1999. The school began offering IU's first completely online doctorate in 2012, the Ed.D. in instructional systems technology. Through IUconnectED, students can take a variety of courses to earn credentials ranging from professional certificates to master's degrees and online doctorates.

Last fall, IU announced IU Online, a major strategic investment to accelerate the development and delivery of quality online courses and programs at IU campuses statewide, address Indiana's economic and professional development needs and extend the university's global reach. An initial investment of $8 million will be made over the next three years.

IU has been a pioneer in online education for the past 15 years and has more than 80 established programs across its campuses. A complete list of online programs offered by IU can be found at www.iuonline.edu