OEDb's Online College Rankings 2007

Update: OEDb has released the 2008 rankings. This is an archived page from our 2007 rankings.

Online higher education is growing, but a lack of transparency is preventing it from reaching its full potential. Even though online colleges are now receiving increased respect from top employers, diploma mills and the like limit the prestige of a legitimate online degree. We think more transparency is a good thing; a set of objective, quantitative rankings — however imperfect — should help shed some light on the relative attractiveness of the most popular accredited online colleges.

These rankings have been produced by OEDb, a database of accredited online education programs. In our rankings we included the most significant degree-granting undergraduate online colleges that operate nationally, as determined by our selection criteria. To our knowledge, these online college rankings are the first of their kind.

For each college, we gathered data for eight different metrics — acceptance rate, financial aid, graduation rate, peer Web citations, retention rate, scholarly citations, student-faculty ratio, and years accredited. The overall ranking, shown below, ranks each college by its average ranking for each metric for which data was available.

Overall Results

This table simply shows the overall ranking of each college, with its average rank in the right-hand column reflecting the sum of all of its ranks divided by the number of metrics for which data was found for that particular college.

Overall Rank	College	Average Rank
1	Grand Canyon University	6.08
2	Florida Metropolitan University	7.98
3	American InterContinental University	8.63
4	Capella University	9.12
5	Fisher College	9.16
6	Colorado Technical University	9.25
7	Post University	9.26
8	University of Maryland University College	9.27
9	Bellevue University	9.73
10	Westwood College	9.83
11	City University	9.92
12	Western International University	10.81
13	Jones International University	11.14
14	Western Governors University	11.36
15	University of Phoenix	11.48
16	Granite State College	12.27
17	South University	12.42
18	Strayer University	13.33
19	Cardean University	13.67
20	Northcentral University	13.93
21	Central Texas College	14.43

Overall Results with Metric Data

This table, ordered by the overall ranking of each college, shows each college's average rank and the data gathered for each of the eight metrics.

In the interest of conserving space, we have abbreviated the name of each college. Mouse over each abbreviation to view the full name of each college.

We have also abbreviated the names of all of the metrics in the table header. Key to metric acronyms — AR: Acceptance Rate, FA: Financial Aid, GR: Graduation Rate, PW: Peer Web Citations, RR: Retention Rate, SC: Scholarly Citations, SF: Student-Faculty Ratio, YA: Years Accredited

Rank	College	Avg. Rank	AR	FA	GR	PW	RR	SC	SF	YA
1	GCU	6.08	33.2%	92%	49%	82	56%	192	16:1	39
2	FMU	7.98	68.6%	67%	64%	564	46%	24	17:1	38
3	AICU	8.63	46.3%	73%	–	492	–	145	–	19
4	CapU	9.12	87.2%	–	–	480	–	1,050	–	10
5	FC	9.16	66.6%	76%	–	46	81%	177	18:1	36
6	CTU	9.25	35.6%	86%	–	78	–	174	20:1	26
7	PU	9.26	62.4%	93%	33%	27	64%	9	13:1	34
8	UMUC	9.27	100.0%	61%	16%	10,600	39%	1,110	20:1	60
9	BU	9.73	100.0%	60%	28%	249	63%	101	15:1	30
10	WC	9.83	48.0%	63%	44%	54	31%	21	13:1	38
11	CiU	9.92	100.0%	46%	–	266	–	24	7:1	28
12	WIU	10.81	77.7%	99%	24%	67	24%	79	10:1	23
13	JIU	11.14	58.6%	–	–	247	–	351	23:1	8
14	WGU	11.36	100.0%	44%	–	546	76%	834	56:1	5
15	UP	11.48	100.0%	4%	4%	1,019	31%	3,020	16:1	28
16	GSC	12.27	100.0%	36%	18%	241	61%	9	10:1	26
17	SoU	12.42	92.0%	100%	24%	54	20%	14	13:1	21
18	StU	13.33	100.0%	40%	20%	183	38%	146	20:1	25
19	CarU	13.67	–	–	–	66	–	215	–	5
20	NU	13.93	100.0%	0%	–	78	88%	68	–	4
21	CTC	14.43	100.0%	37%	9%	49	40%	137	40:1	38

Overall Results with Metric Ranks

This table, ordered by the overall ranking of each college, shows each college's average rank and the rank or adjusted rank of that college for each of the eight metrics.

In the interest of conserving space, we have abbreviated the name of each college. Mouse over each abbreviation to view the full name of each college.

We have also abbreviated the names of all of the metrics in the table header. Key to metric acronyms — AR: Acceptance Rate, FA: Financial Aid, GR: Graduation Rate, PW: Peer Web Citations, RR: Retention Rate, SC: Scholarly Citations, SF: Student-Faculty Ratio, YA: Years Accredited

Rank	College	Avg. Rank	AR	FA	GR	PW	RR	SC	SF	YA
1	GCU	6.08	1	4.53	2.82	12	9.57	7	9.75	2
2	FMU	7.98	8.37	9.24	1	3	11	16	12.25	3
3	AICU	8.63	3.11	8.06	NR	5	NR	11	NR	16
4	CapU	9.12	10.47	NR	NR	6	NR	3	NR	17
5	FC	9.16	7.32	6.88	NR	20	2.43	8	13.5	6
6	CTU	9.25	2.05	5.71	NR	13	NR	9	14.75	11
7	PU	9.26	6.26	3.35	6.45	21	5.29	20	4.75	7
8	UMUC	9.27	12.58	11.59	17.36	1	13.86	2	14.75	1
9	BU	9.73	12.58	12.76	8.27	8	6.71	13	8.5	8
10	WC	9.83	4.16	10.41	4.64	17	16.71	18	4.75	3
11	CiU	9.92	12.58	13.94	NR	7	NR	16	1	9
12	WIU	10.81	9.42	2.18	10.09	15	19.57	14	2.25	14
13	JIU	11.14	5.21	NR	NR	9	NR	5	18.5	18
14	WGU	11.36	12.58	15.12	NR	4	3.86	4	21	19
15	UP	11.48	12.58	19.82	21	2	16.71	1	9.75	9
16	GSC	12.27	12.58	18.65	15.55	10	8.14	20	2.25	11
17	SoU	12.42	11.53	1	10.09	17	21	19	4.75	15
18	StU	13.33	12.58	16.29	13.73	11	15.29	10	14.75	13
19	CarU	13.67	NR	NR	NR	16	NR	6	NR	19
20	NU	13.93	12.58	21	NR	13	1	15	NR	21
21	CTC	14.43	12.58	17.47	19.18	19	12.43	12	19.75	3

Ranking Metrics

You may wish to view the rankings for each individual metric.

• Acceptance Rate
• Financial Aid
• Graduation Rate
• Peer Web Citations
• Retention Rate
• Scholarly Citations
• Student-Faculty Ratio
• Years Accredited

Learn More About This Study

For further information regarding these rankings, you are encouraged to consult the in-depth documentation of our methodology; you may also wish to read about who we are and why we conducted this study.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments, or feedback regarding these rankings, please feel free to contact us.

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