Belhaven University Online program was recognized by U.S. News & World Report with the distinction of 2014 Best Online Programs for Veterans on usnews.com. The rankings, now in their second year, were designed to help veterans identify high-quality online degree programs that suit their educational needs.
The 2014 edition includes rankings for online bachelor's programs and online master's degree programs in business, education, engineering and nursing. For the first time, the Best Online Programs for Veterans include rankings of online master's degree programs in computer information technology.
“Veterans and active-duty service members face unique challenges as students, from transitioning between bases and grappling with deployment to balancing work and family life upon return,” said Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News. “The Best Online Programs for Veterans are high-quality programs that also offer educational benefits and flexibility for veterans pursuing a degree.”
To be ranked, an online degree program had to report participation in four key programs that offer educational benefits to people with military service. The rankings methodology requires programs to belong to institutions that are certified for the GI Bill; they must also belong to schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program or public institutions that charge in-state tuition for all out-of-state veterans. The Best Online Programs for Veterans are also affiliated with schools that are members of the Service members Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium and offer at least once course in the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) catalog.
Finally, all schools evaluated in this ranking must have been awarded a numerical rank in the overall 2014 U.S. News Best Online Programs rankings, which were released earlier this year. Those programs were assessed for various factors, including affordability, faculty credentials, student services and reputation. Only regionally accredited degree-granting programs that were predominantly online were considered.
U.S. News & World Report developed the Best Online Programs for Veterans and inaugural Best Colleges for Veterans, released in November, to help the thousands of returning veterans and active-duty service members pursue college or advanced degrees under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.