Troy University has earned national recognition for online education programs offered at the school.

U.S. News & World Report released their first-ever set of rankings for Top Online Education Programs and Troy appeared in the top five schools on four lists and in the top 10 on another.

“These rankings speak to the quality and promise of Troy’s approach to online education, as well as to the outstanding effort from faculty, staff and administrators,” said Dr. Lance Tatum, Vice Chancellor of Global Campus, the arm of the university responsible for its distance learning and outside-of-Alabama operations.

In order to be considered for the rankings, online degree programs needed to have at least 80 percent of their course content available online. Online bachelor’s degree programs, as well as graduate online degree programs in business, engineering, nursing, education and computer information technology were ranked.

The online bachelor’s degree programs were ranked in three categories. Out of 170 schools, Troy came in third for “teaching practices and student engagement” and fifth for “student services and technology.” The university scored an 87.6 out of a possible 100 in “student services and technology” and a 78.5 for “teaching practices and student engagement.” The third category was “faculty credentials and training.”

The online master’s degree programs were ranked in similar categories, but were evaluated on student engagement and accreditation instead of assessment. There was also a separate ranking for admissions selectivity.

Troy’s online graduate program in business ranked 12th in the “student services and technology” category, 62nd for “teaching practices and student engagement” and 39th for “admissions selectivity.” There were 150 schools in that category.

Out of 150 schools, Troy’s online graduate program in education ranked 21st in “student services and technology,” and third in “teaching practices and student engagement.”

The online graduate program in nursing ranked ninth out of 83 schools for “student services and technology,” 26th in “admissions selectivity” and fifth in “teaching practices and student engagement.”

“The delivery of academic programs is a university-wide effort and succeeds at Troy University because of our committed faculty and staff, and our student-centered culture,” Tatum said.