Online engineering degree gets high marks in national rankings

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University's College of Engineering online graduate engineering programs were ranked fifth in U.S. News & World Report's ranking of Best Online Programs.

The programs have been listed in the top 10 for the past four years in the annual ranking. The latest rankings were released Tuesday (Jan. 12) and can be viewed at http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education.

The Division of Engineering Professional Education delivers six different master's degrees online. In 2015, there were more than 800 active distance students, making Purdue one of the largest providers of distance graduate engineering degrees in the United States.

"The division's mission is to provide quality educational opportunities to engineers and computer scientists with careers in progress," said Dale Harris, executive director of Purdue's Division of Engineering Professional Education.

Harris says the division is pleased to be recognized for providing top-quality online education.

"We support instruction with world-class student services, distance-course production and delivery, and curriculum innovation," he said. "Graduate education is increasingly important in ensuring personal and collective competitiveness within the technical professions, and quality online programs are critical to meeting that need."

The ranking is assessed by factors including the quality of classroom instruction and faculty, admissions selectivity and peer assessment.

In addition, Purdue's online graduate education program was ranked 41st among 188 ranked programs in the U.S. News and World Report.

Writer: Melanie Schramm, 765-494-0469, johnst20@purdue.edu

Sources: Dale Harris, 765-494-0212, harris@purdue.edu