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"Top Ranked Online Degrees - Most Affordable"

"U.S.News & World Report will launch its first-ever ranking of top online education degree programs. The rankings will be featured exclusively on usnews.com starting Jan. 10, 2012."

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U.S. News Ranks Top Online Degree Programs
See which schools are tops for online bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

By Kelsey Sheehy
January 10, 2012 RSS Feed Print

Online course enrollment in the United States hit an all-time high in 2010 with more than 6.1 million students, and the trend shows no signs of leveling off, according to a 2011 report by the Babson Survey Research Group.

Enrollment in online classes doubled between 2007 and 2011, driven largely by a stagnant economy and competitive job market, but also by robust online offerings from established public and private institutions, according to the report. At more than 2,500 colleges and universities surveyed, 65 percent of administrators say that online learning is a vital piece of their institution's long-term strategy."

"Top Online Programs"

"A simple query on a search engine for "online courses" was the starting point for WorldWideLearn.com. At that time, there really wasn't a centralized directory of quality e-learning providers. That was in 1998, when there were almost no directories or portals specializing in just online education. Searching for and finding relevant online learning resources proved to be time-consuming and frustrating. WorldWideLearn.com wanted to change that.

The site's founders began to develop a directory of e-learning courses and education resources to provide results for that first, simple query. The WorldWideLearn.com directory site was formally launched in May of 1999. Since then, the site has been honored with numerous prestigious awards. Most recently, the Better Business Bureau has recognized WorldWideLearn.com as meeting their standards of good business. We are members of the American Library Association and are proud to support organizations dedicated to encouraging education."

"Campus Grotto is a national college news publication providing current and future college students with the latest college news, tips, and advice. Made famous by our annual ranking of most expensive colleges, we reach an audience of over 1 million a year."

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Survey identifies and ranks top 10 ‘Metroversity’ areas
News January 26 2012

WESTFIELD, Mass., January 26, 2012 ‐ A newly released ranking by higher education expert Dr. Evan S. Dobelle quantifies per capita the economic impact of colleges and universities in larger metropolitan areas. Dr. Dobelle ranks the top 10 “Metroversity” or colleges and universities within metropolitan areas whose collaborative expenditures position them as major economic engines underscoring each area’s transition from a manufacturing‐based economy to a knowledge‐based one."

"Gaming the College Rankings

Any love-hate relationship must have its share of pain, so the academic world, in its obsession with college rankings, is suitably dismayed by news that an elite college, Claremont McKenna, fudged its numbers in an apparent bid to climb the charts. 

Dismayed, but not quite surprised. In fact, several colleges in recent years have been caught gaming the system — in particular, the avidly watched U.S. News & World Report rankings — by twisting the meanings of rules, cherry-picking data or just lying.

In one recent example, Iona College in New Rochelle, north of New York City, acknowledged last fall that its employees had lied for years not only about test scores, but also about graduation rates, freshman retention, student-faculty ratio, acceptance rates and alumni giving.

Other institutions have found ways to manipulate the data without outright dishonesty"

"College Says It Exaggerated SAT Figures for Ratings

Claremont McKenna College, a small, prestigious California school, said Monday that for the past six years, it has submitted false SAT scores to publications like U.S. News & World Report that use the data in widely followed college rankings.

In a message e-mailed to college staff members and students, Claremont McKenna’s president since 1999, Pamela B. Gann, wrote that “a senior administrator” had taken sole responsibility for falsifying the scores, admitted doing so since 2005, and resigned his post.

People briefed on the matter said that the administrator was Richard C. Vos, vice president and dean of admissions, whose name was removed in the last few days from the college’s online list of top officials.

Mr. Vos, reached at his home Monday night, said: “No comment. It’s an internal personnel matter."

"Are you looking for colleges and universities that offer accredited undergraduate and graduate degrees that you can earn online? Then you have come to the right place. You can begin right now by using the college finder at the top of the page to request detailed information about colleges and universities that offer accredited degrees online. Simply select the degree level, the degree category, and the subject of interest and click "

"Online and Campus Degrees, Schools, Colleges and Universities"

"We surveyed over 122,000 students and collected tons of information to help you find the best college for you – including 62 ranking lists."

"With the current downturn in the economy, the number one thing you want to look for in a degree is a good chance of finding a job once you graduate. Of course, the amount of money you can make is important. However, you don’t want to fall into the trap of choosing a degree that leads to a high paying job but has too many job seekers in the marketplace. A degree with a competitive job market lowers your chance of getting a job and you could easily end up unemployed or underemployed struggling to pay off student loans."