UND is third in nation for student services, online bachelor’s degrees

UND earned the No. 3 spot in the nation in the student services and technology category for its exceptional online bachelor’s degree programs in the first-ever edition of Top Online Education Program rankings by U.S. News & World Report. UND also placed in the top 75 in five different category rankings for its online graduate programs in business and nursing.

“UND is committed to providing high quality educational experiences for all of our online students, and to be recognized by U.S. News in multiple categories, including a No. 3 ranking for our student services and technology support, is an honor, ” said Philip Parnell, director of Online Enrollment Management. “We are very proud of the hard work put forth by all of our faculty and staff involved in online education.”

In addition to recognizing UND among the Top Online Education Programs, U.S. News recently profiled UND online student, Dalene Erickson, for a feature article titled, “Why I Chose Online Education.” Erickson is pursuing her graduate degree in early childhood education while she balances the demands of work and family.

“We are very pleased that U.S. News chose to feature one of UND’s online students,” Parnell said. “Ms. Erickson’s experience of juggling multiple responsibilities while earning her master’s degree online is typical for many of the adult learners that UND serves through distance education.”

UND offers more than 45 online degree and graduate certificate programs as well as hundreds of online academic and lifelong learning courses.

U.S. News created the rankings in response to today’s high demand for education provided in a flexible format. U.S. News ranked online bachelor’s degree programs as well as online graduate degree programs in business, engineering, nursing, education and computer information technology in multiple categories related to student engagement, faculty credentials and training and student services and technology. In order to be considered for the rankings, programs must have at least 80 percent of their course content available online.

To read the U.S. News article, Why I Chose Online Education: Dalene Erickson, go to www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2012/01/12/why-i-chose-online-education-dalene-erickson.

For more information about UND’s rankings in the Top Online Education Programs by U.S. News, visit www.usnews.com/education/online-education/university-of-north-dakota-3005.

For more information about the methodology used for U.S. News Top Online Education Program rankings, please go to www.usnews.com/onlinemeth.

To learn more about UND’s online and distance education programs, visit http://distance.UND.edu.

For more information, contact Philip Parnell at 777-2291 or philip.parnell@UND.edu.

— Peter Johnson, executive associate vice president for University Relations, 777-4317, peter.johnson@UND.edu.