Searching for Top Online Colleges? Check out a list of the Top 25 Online Colleges in the nation!

There are extremely strict and transparent guidelines for ranking colleges and universities. However, online programs can vary greatly from traditional programs.

And, with the constantly changing technological world, it is often hard to distinguish top online colleges and online universities from diploma mills and similar institutions.

The following list includes 25 of the top online colleges in the nation:

1. Nova Southeastern University
2. Regent University
3. Champlain College
4. Upper Iowa University
5. LeTourneau University
6. Liberty University
7. Grand Canyon University
8. Dickinson State University
9. Western Governors University
10. Salem International University
11. Keiser University
12. Fisher College
13. National University
14. Walden University
15. Tiffin University
16. Westwood College
17. Post University
18. ITT Technical Institute
19. Colorado Technical University
20. Everglades University
21. Everest University
22. Kaplan University
23. Capella University
24. Rasmussen College

Online Programs

Most schools in the nation now offer some form of online education. However, the same program can vary from school to school. It is not enough to base a review of top online colleges on the reviews that the school itself receives, because the online programs and the regular programs will often be on a different timeline, offer different courses, different tuition rates, or be taught by different faculty.

Top Online Colleges – Rankings Criteria

In order to determine the rankings of the majority of online schools in the nation, the Online Education Database has compiled a set of criteria upon which they base their rankings. They are committed to using a robust criteria set, and averaging out rankings in order to give you the clearest possible picture of what makes the top online colleges great.

Some of the criteria used to rank online schools will be the same as traditional schools. Accreditation is arguably the most important factor when considering a school, whether online or in-class. The same quality of education should be present in an online course as well as a traditional course, and this quality can be gauged from the accreditation status of a school.

Accreditation of Top Online Colleges

In order for any institution to make it onto the Online Education Database’s list of top online colleges and universities, it must be accredited, and the longer the accreditation status, the higher the school will rank.

Other factors used in determining the top online colleges and universities include acceptance rates, graduation rates, financial aid, retention rate (the overall interest that the student body expresses in the material being presented at the school), scholarly citations, peer Web citations, and student-faculty ratio. These criteria are all similar to traditional school criteria, with some slight modifications.

Source: Online Education Database