When the 2025 U.S. News & World report rankings of the nation\u2019s best online master\u2019s programs came out in January, it was no surprise that Purdue University rated No. 1 in multiple categories<\/a>. The surprise would have been if Purdue hadn\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Intentional choices Purdue makes in the development and deployment of its online master\u2019s degrees, as well as Purdue\u2019s international reputation, put it in a prime position to excel in the rankings. But excellence at scale, not rankings, are the motivation for those choices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have consistently done very well because we’ve made some very clear choices in how we structure our programs that are not about the rankings, they’re about the kind of quality programs we want to deliver to our students,\u201d said Milind Kulkarni, who besides his \u201cday job\u201d as an on-campus faculty member and department head leads Purdue\u2019s online engineering programs. \u201cThe rankings are a reflection of what we do. They’re not the goal of what we’re trying to do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, one big factor in the U.S. News rankings is the number of a school\u2019s online instructors who are tenure-track. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe do really well by that metric,\u2019 said Kulkarni, the Michael and Katherine Birck Head and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue. \u201cWhereas a lot of other schools will hire contract lecturers to teach their online classes, we don’t do that. We use our own faculty to teach these classes. We do that in order to deliver a high-quality product for the students, in order to deliver the best experience for the students.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Purdue\u2019s online master\u2019s programs in electrical engineering, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering and engineering management ranked No. 1 in the latest U.S. News rankings. The online master\u2019s in civil engineering ranked No. 2 and Purdue ranked No. 5 in online engineering master\u2019s programs for veterans. The full rankings can be viewed online<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Collectively, Purdue\u2019s online master\u2019s programs in engineering placed among the nation\u2019s elite, ranking only behind the University of California, Los Angeles and tied in the No. 2 position with the University of Illinois. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe pitch we make to students about any of our online programs is that the degree you get online from Purdue engineering is the same degree that you would get here residentially,\u201d Kulkarni said. \u201cIt’s not a watered-down degree. It’s not a limited degree. You are not getting a different set of courses. You are not getting a different set of instructors.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mia Reed cited interaction with Purdue\u2019s world-class faculty as one highlight of her online master\u2019s program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe professors were really good about making sure you understood they were there,\u201d said Reed, who earned dual online degrees through Purdue, including her Master of Science in interdisciplinary engineering and Master of Business Administration \u201cYou could pop in on Zoom for office hours and talk to them just like you could pop in on campus.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Three of Purdue\u2019s online master\u2019s in education<\/a> were among the Top 10 in the U.S. News rankings as well, including\u00a0curriculum and instruction<\/a>, ranked No. 3, educational administration and supervision<\/a>, No. 7, and education programs for veterans, also No. 7 \u2014 like engineering a reflection of faculty expertise and a commitment to quality.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drive for parity between the programs on Purdue\u2019s flagship campus and its online programs extends to other areas the U.S. News rankings consider as well, notably the quality of student support services that help students stay enrolled and graduate in a timely fashion, career guidance and financial aid resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Advisors and online student success coaches are a key ingredient in Purdue\u2019s recipe for delivering outstanding support for online students with a personal touch, focusing on academic success, student life, professional development and graduation readiness from the time a student starts until the time they become one of Purdue\u2019s more than 600,000 living alumni. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “A lot of other institutions have advisors who also do coaching, and I think it’s a huge asset that we break it down into two different roles,\u201d said Zach Rost, senior manager for success and completion, which includes Purdue\u2019s online advising and coaching teams. \u201cOne role focuses on academic planning \u2014 guiding students through course selection, graduation requirements and registration \u2014 while the other enhances that support with holistic coaching, offering motivation, addressing challenges and connecting students with key resources for academic, career and personal success.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Purdue and its campus partners also have made investments in embedding online student support specialists in key offices such as the bursar, registrar and financial aid as well as Counseling and Psychological Services, the better to assist online students in navigating the university landscape, said Mitchell Farmer, student experience director. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThroughout all of our processes we’re trying to look at where we can take responsibility or burden off of the student and onto the university so that they can focus on academic success as their primary consideration,\u201d Farmer said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAn overarching goal of our service model, even in the age of AI, is that we want to form personalized relationships at all points,\u201d Farmer said. \u201cWe value developing that personal relationship with the student and knowing who they are and knowing what their goals are and helping match them to the best opportunities to achieve their goals.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kiley Kallenberger, senior online student success coach and interim manager for success coaching, said Purdue\u2019s online student support system complements the academic prestige of its online programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn coaching, advising, and across our student success team, we\u2019re fortunate to work with dedicated professionals committed to meeting student needs,\u201d Kallenberger said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to quality academics and student services, the U.S. News rankings consider such factors as affordability and the overall reputation of the institution. U.S. News conducts a peer assessment survey of high-ranking academic officials, including deans and top online learning leaders, as an important element of its rankings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Purdue also rates highly in a variety of other rankings, including as the No. 8 Public University in the U.S. (QS World University Ranking 2025) and among the Top 100 universities globally (Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2025). <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that most students are looking at what is the very best school that I can get into and that I can afford,\u201d Kulkarni said. \u201cPurdue does well on both scores.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those factors were on Omar Mahboob\u2019s mind when he was shopping for an online master\u2019s program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLooking at my options for online electrical engineering degrees I thought Purdue was the best choice from a prestige standpoint and from an education standpoint,\u201d said Mahboob, now a Purdue graduate. \u201cThe cost per credit hour was very competitive compared to the other options that were out there.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Purdue doesn\u2019t create its high-quality, top-ranked online master\u2019s degree programs in search of high rankings. The high rankings follow from Purdue\u2019s drive to deliver excellence at scale in its online programs to a global student audience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,68],"tags":[],"area-of-study":[11],"person":[75],"class_list":["post-6378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evergreen","category-features","area-of-study-engineering","person-faculty-staff"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rank.jpg",1800,1013,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rank.jpg",1800,1013,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rank.jpg",1800,1013,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rank-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rank-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rank-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rank-1536x864.jpg",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rank.jpg",1800,1013,false],"rt_custom":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rank.jpg",1800,1013,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Greg Kline","author_link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/author\/gkline\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Evergreen<\/a> Features<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Purdue doesn\u2019t create its high-quality, top-ranked online master\u2019s degree programs in search of high rankings. The high rankings follow from Purdue\u2019s drive to deliver excellence at scale in its online programs to a global student audience.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6378"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6639,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6378\/revisions\/6639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6378"},{"taxonomy":"area-of-study","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area-of-study?post=6378"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=6378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Academic rigor and world-class faculty matter <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Student support services are a key ingredient <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Purdue scores advantages in reputation and sticker price <\/h3>\n\n\n\n