The Top Three Online Colleges Are Not American

Feb. 27, 2013 - PRLog -- Dr. Fred DiUlus, author of the 10th annual 2013 edition of the Best Worst Online Degree Program Providers, has released the list of the top twenty online college degree providers in the world.

Publishing the online best and worst of the online colleges annually for over ten years, DiUlus is credited with being the father of online college ratings and rankings. He first published his ratings book and top ten list in 2003. As a result of the exponential growth of online degree programs offered by increasing numbers of traditional schools, he has expanded the top ten list to include all of the top 20.

In the early years, according to DiUlus, there were barely more than 20 schools one could call online degree program providers. Today, there are hundreds globally with more traditional schools climbing on board every day at a record rate.

“Online education is the wild west of higher education”, says DiUlus, “its opportunities endless touching literally everyone, everywhere, no matter how young or old.”  

The Top Twenty Online Colleges

1. University of London, #1 in the world for ten consecutive years. No one else comes close.

2. University of South Africa, #1 traditional school and the #1 online degree provider in all of Africa.

3. University of Southern Queensland, #1 in Australasia.  That says it all. They are expanding rapidly with top faculty and admin.

4. University of Phoenix, #1 in America. This is no surprise for those who really know that every online program provider worth their salt copied UOP. They are the largest university in North America with the largest living alumni base worldwide. Overlooked is the fact that this is an online student’s networking heaven.

5. Jones International University, #2 in North America. Conceived, created, and designed to be a world leader in online higher education, this school has the ability and potential to be the #1 online university.

6. Golden Gate University, #3 in North America. Founded by a handful of San Francisco Bay Area CEO’s and bankers, this sleeping giant grew up to be an international bankers and leadership school for the US Military. It is now on or near US military bases and trade centers around the world.

7. University of Maryland College Park, is an original online pioneer school that made study abroad fashionable. Online programs and faculty are highly competitive.  

8. Drexel University (http://www.drexel.edu/), is a class performer that has sought to make their presence known in the world of online higher education. Judging by the nature of how they are going about it, they are headed for expanded success in attracting global students.

9. Florida State University (http://www.fsu.edu/), is one of the nation’s most popular traditional colleges and possesses a renowned online Criminology program providing federal, state and local agencies a recruiting gold mine.

10. Regent University, is recognized in the top two percent of universities and one that is the #1 faith based online university in the world. Its degree programs in strategic leadership are unique to Regent and are trend setting pragmatically designed programs.

11. Griffith University, is not well known in North America but possesses a sterling reputation globally. They are putting forth a major high-end effort to challenge and compete globally.

12. Stanford University (http://scpd.stanford.edu/degreeCredit/degreesCertificates...), is not on the list because it is among the top five traditional universities in America. It is on the list because it offers limited top-end online programs and one absolute state of the art engineering degree, the #1 online program of its kind in the world.  

13.  Indiana University (http://www.iu.edu/~iuonline/de/degrees.html), could stop being a top big ten traditional school tomorrow and catapult to the front of the class as one of the top five online universities if it decided to go for it. Innovative, it recognizes where education is headed and wants to be in the forefront.

14.Charles Sturt University, (http://www.iu.edu/~iuonline/de/degrees.html) the largest distance education and online provider in Australasia.

15. Seton Hall University (http://www.shu.edu/), created a Web-based exceptional Management Leadership experience grounded in a150 year history and tradition and they are proud of it.

16. Florida Tech University (http://www.floridatechonline.com/), this traditional laden high ranking scientific and technology school has online programs equally as impressive as any. Recent assets dedicated to online programs are impressive.

17. University of Massachusetts (http://www.umassonline.net/Home.html), choosing to set online programs apart from the school’s tradition programs, Umass Offers programs under the innovative Umass Online banner holding it back as a dedicated online degree provider. .

18. Cornell University (http://www.ecornell.com/), the Ivy League makes an appearance in top group but unfortunately no degrees are available but with several choices for certificates under its eCornell brand.  Too bad, because if they just leveled the in house playing field, and added basic degrees online, they would rock the education world. That is why they are here and Stanford is up there.

19. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (http://www.unc.edu/), new to online higher education, they evidence one of the more aggressive plunges by a major traditional university. These guys are serious players. Get in on the ground floor of this one if you can.

20. University of Liverpool, an international school with appeal to American and European students for both traditional and online programs. For some reason this school has a propensity to attract a lot of students from the USA. Its appeal includes the aura of a UK degree at a reasonable cost accomplished entirely online.