UMass Amherst Ranks Among Top 20 Institutions in Nation for Online Programs

AMHERST — UMass Amherst’s online education programs have been recognized as among the best in the nation in U.S. News and World Report’s 2024 rankings. Placing second among public and private colleges and universities was the Isenberg School of Management’s online undergraduate program in business.

Overall, UMass Amherst’s online bachelor’s degree programs placed 20th out of 339 public and private colleges and universities and is the only New England institution in the top 20. Among UMass Amherst’s online bachelor’s degree programs represented are business administration, nursing, sociology, sustainable food and farming, hospitality and tourism management, and many programs in the University Without Walls’ Department of Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS).

For 2024, U.S. News and World Report assessed more than 1,750 online bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and ranked 1,680 accredited higher-education institutions. The rankings were released on Feb. 7.

“We’re proud to be among today’s leaders in online education. We will continue to champion innovation in learning by offering personalized, interdisciplinary, student-centric programs for all learners in a very dynamic marketplace,” UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes said. “These latest U.S. News rankings reflect UMass Amherst’s commitment to providing access to our outstanding programs in a flexible manner, meeting students where they are so they can pursue their academic and professional goals.”

The Isenberg School of Management bachelor’s degree in business stepped up one spot from last year to number 2, surpassing Arizona State University, Oregon State University and Pennsylvania State University – World Campus, which all placed in a three-way tie for third.

In master’s business programs, UMass Amherst moved up three spots from last year to number 6, tying with Boston University and Rutgers University, in the survey among non-MBA online business graduate degrees. Isenberg’s MBA program stayed at number 12, a ranking it has held for the past three years.

“It’s wonderful that our groundbreaking online MBA program continues to be a leader in this fast-growing space and provide today’s students with career-building skills and learning experiences,” said Anne Massey, dean of the Isenberg School of Management.

In other U.S. News online graduate program assessments, the Elaine Marieb School of Nursing moved up to number 12 out of 186 ranked programs. Notably, UMass Amherst’s master’s in nursing was also the only Massachusetts program ranked in the top 30.  

UMass Amherst’s online programs also ranked in the top 15 for their support of veterans, with the Isenberg master’s in business excluding MBA (fourth), online MBA (11th), and overall bachelor’s degree programs (13th) leading the survey.