Texas Tech outranked the University of Texas and the University of North Texas to secure the No. 3 spot.
Texas Tech University's commitment to providing high-quality online education has received statewide attention. Online College Plan recently ranked Texas Tech No. 3 on the list of "Top 20 Best Online Colleges in the State of Texas."
The list ranked the 20 best colleges and universities in the state of Texas that offer online academic programs for students. The list is based on freshmen retention rates and graduation rates within the online academic programs at each institution.
Texas Tech was listed with a freshmen retention rate of 82 percent and a graduation rate of 59 percent. In the end, this gave Texas Tech an overall rating of 141 out of 200. With more than half of freshmen able to complete and graduate from their online academic programs, Texas Tech was ranked highly on the list.
Justin Louder, associate vice provost for eLearning & Academic Partnerships, said being recognized is a testament to the caliber of the online programs offered at Texas Tech.
"Texas Tech University's online programs allow anyone to receive a high-quality Texas Tech education from wherever they are," Louder said. "The university is committed to providing superior online instruction to our students, and this ranking is another testament to the university faculty for developing and offering excellent online courses."
Melanie Hart, vice provost for eLearning & Academic Partnerships, added that Texas Tech's priority on maintaining quality programs helps ensure students are successful in their academic pursuits.
"Texas Tech places a high priority on the quality of all programs, especially our online programs," Hart said. "Worldwide eLearning provides a number of services to faculty and students to ensure our online programs are of the highest quality and students have the assistance they need to be successful."
Online College Plan also specifically listed Texas Tech's online master of engineering program and online Wind Energy Certification as highly respected.
A full methodology of the rankings can be found on the Online College Plan website.
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