UND named Top 3 military-friendly school in the nation for delivery of online education
The University of North Dakota is one of the top schools in the nation for online military-friendly schools, according to the 2012 Guide to Online Schools, a leading education portal for aspiring college students.
UND's online programs were ranked No. 3 in the nation on the Guide's list after an evaluation of more than 200 accredited online schools. The top 30 schools are listed on the Guide's official website at guidetoonlineschools.com/online-colleges/2012-military-friendly. This year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison took the top spot in the rankings followed by Iowa State University and then UND.
"This is a wonderful honor for UND," said Lori Reesor, UND vice president of student affairs. "We have many dedicated faculty and staff who work hard to ensure those who have served and continue to serve our country have access to quality online educational programs. This recognition supports our initiatives to be an exceptional university and provide quality educational opportunities for our military students."
Guide to Online Schools stated that UND has a "particularly robust" online learning program that "encompasses all levels of learning, from professional development classes and certificates to graduate degrees." The Guide to Online Schools also noted that UND "offers a number of accredited online programs that are hard to find at other institutions, such as undergraduate engineering degrees."
"The hard work and dedication of UND's Military Affairs Committee is a big part of the reason that the University's online education programs are being recognized as military-friendly on a national scale," said Philip Parnell, director of online enrollment management and chair of the Military Affairs Committee. "The Committee, which is made up of current and former military members who volunteer their time, provides ongoing guidance on how UND can best meet the needs of our servicemen and women."
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the United States had just over 1.4 million active military personnel in 2010. Many of those men and women are now back home and looking to further their education. Luckily, there are many schools out there that provide special services to make this transition easier. These include tuition discounts for military students and/or their dependents, the ability to complete a degree 100% online, credit for military training, and more.
The Guide to Online Schools hopes to further assist military members by providing important, honest information about all of the schools that cater to military personnel. It collected all of the important data on military-friendly schools and ranked them to help guide service members down the right educational path. The ranking factors include criteria like accreditation, costs of tuition and books, graduation rate and more.
Nicholas Ingman, an Army infantry veteran, is a UND student who is enrolled in the online Master of Business Administration program.
"Being new to the distance format, it's been great for a young professional like me," Ingman said. "The class scheduling and offerings also deserve compliment. Getting set up for veteran benefits was an absolute breeze with Carol Anson (UND veteran certifying official) and her staff in the Veterans' Office."
Guide to Online Schools is the flagship website of SR Education Group, and is one of the top education portals on the Web, offering extensive information on distance learning, careers, reviews written by actual online students, and pagers where students can directly contact schools to get more information.
Other high rankings
In addition to the military-friendly recognition, UND's online program also was recently ranked No. 3 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in the student services and technology category for its administration of online bachelor's degree programs. The rankings were published in the magazine's first-ever edition of "Top Online Education Programs."
"UND is committed to providing high quality educational experiences for all of our online students, and to be recognized by U.S. News in multiple categories, including a No. 3 ranking for our student services and technology support, is an honor, " Parnell said. "We are very proud of the hard work put forth by our entire faculty and staff involved in online education."
"This is truly a great honor and is the result of hard work and dedication by many who continue to make UND online education programs an exceptional part of this University," said Joshua Riedy, UND chief information officer. "This recognition reflects UND's efforts in setting up the infrastructure and personnel support that allows online students around the world to pursue their educational dreams at a world-class comprehensive University."
And even more recently, UND was ranked 11th in the nation by U.S. News on its list of "Top 20 Most Popular National Universities." These rankings were based on the percentage of applicants accepted by a University who end up enrolling there. UND's yield rate was 62.4 percent.
Additional links:
UND once again makes G.I. Jobs list of 'Military Friendly' Schools:
UND.edu/news/2011/09/g.i.-jobs-list.cfm
To learn more about veterans' admission to UND and services:
UND.edu/military
"Grad Stories" of successful student veterans at UND:
graduateschool.UND.edu/military-student-profiles/index.cfm
Contact:
David L. Dodds, Media Relations/Writer & Editor, 701.777.5529, david.dodds@email.und.edu
UND.edu
