Ranking Methodology

The onlinecolleges.com (opens in a new window) Best College rankings are based on a variety of metrics and data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Schools appearing in a Best College list are selected based solely on the methodology noted below and found on the website (opens in a new window). All ranked schools—including Ohio University—earned their placement based solely on data.

Onlinecolleges.com Methodology

“Using IPEDS, we generated a list of colleges and universities that met the following criteria:

  • Level of institution is either "Four or more years" or "At least 2 but less than 4 years"
  • Data is reported for all 11 ranking variables listed in the Methodology section
  • At least 1 percent of students are taking at least some of the classes via distance education
  • "Number of programs offered via distance education" was an integer greater than 0

 

We ranked the resulting 1,813 colleges on 11 criteria, using provisional 2017-18 data from IPEDS:

  • Number of programs offered via distance education
  • Ratio of students participating fully or partially in DE to Total Enrollment
  • Average in-state tuition for undergraduates
  • Total electronic library collections, including digital books, databases, and media
  • Graduation rate
  • Retention rate
  • The availability of any tuition plans (Payment, Guaranteed, Other)
  • Services (Academic/Career, Placement for Completers)
  • Credit offerings (Dual, Life, AP, Military)
  • Percent of undergraduate students awarded federal, state, local, institutional or other sources of grant aid
  • Average amount of federal, state, local, institutional, or other sources of grant aid awarded to undergraduate students

 

All schools were scored on a 10-point scale for each of the points listed above. Individual data point scores were then multiplied by their respective weights, and the scores were added together, for a maximum possible score of 10 points.”

Schools appearing in the college search tool and in the partner listings at onlinecolleges.com (opens in a new window) are referred to as “Sponsored Schools” and may compensate onlinecolleges.com to be included in those locations only. While Ohio University may appear in a sponsored advertisement, there is no connection between those appearances and the data-based rankings.

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