University online rankings thrive thanks to unique online degree programs

16 Jan 2018     By Katie Ballue

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is once again found ranking within the top 50 for online undergraduate and graduate programs. The university started offering online programs (in addition to the existing online courses available) in 2008 and have since continued to climb higher on the national rankings every year.

The online undergraduate programs the university offers rank #35 nationally and #4 in the Big Ten while the online graduate programs within the university rank #12 nationally and #1 in the Big Ten, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Child, Youth, and Family Studies houses two of the programs used in the report. The Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education in a Mobile Society is one of two complete undergraduate online programs the university offers. This degree option was specifically made for students who have families and/or are required to travel for work, are active in the military, because they are homeless, or other reasons. The other is a master’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Education.

The university offers many unique degree experiences for both undergraduate and graduate students by doing something groundbreaking: working alongside what some would say are competitors. This group of universities is called the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance.

“Being part of the Great Plains IDEA consortium, a partnership of 20 public universities, allows the university to offer high quality, high demand online programs that it could not on its own,” said Marie Barber, the Executive Director of Online and Distance Education.

Child, Youth, and Family Studies offers one undergraduate, three graduate certificates, and four graduate programs through the Great Plains IDEA with around 150 students enrolled and it is continually growing. All in all, there are nine graduate programs offered through the College of Education and Human Sciences and the Great Plains IDEA.

“The purpose of working with other universities is that we are stronger together,” said Lisa King, the university’s Campus Coordinator for the Great Plains IDEA. “At one time, we had a faculty member who was an expert in retirement and insurance, but she couldn’t have possibly taught all the courses required for the Family Financial Planning MS degree. So we share students and faculty and are able to offer degree specializations that none of the universities could do on their own.”

To learn more about online and distance education, visit https://online.unl.edu/home.

To learn more about Great Plains IDEA, visit https://www.gpidea.org/.