UM Among Nation’s Top 25 for Online Graduate Degrees in Education

Students and faculty members from the UM School of Education celebrate Commencement in the Grove. The school has been ranked among the nation’s Top 25 programs for online graduate studies in education. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Communications

The University of Mississippi has been ranked among the nation’s top 25 institutions for online graduate degrees in education by U.S. News & World Report.

At No. 25, the UM School of Education rose 10 spots from U.S. News’ 2015 rankings.

“We are proud to be recognized for the hard work of our faculty, staff and students,” said David Rock, UM’s education dean. “We are committed to creating quality graduate education that is accessible for working teachers, higher education professionals and counselors who seek to be change agents and leaders in their classrooms and communities.”

Ole Miss is tied with the New York Institute of Technology, the University of Dayton, the University of Nebraska at Kearney and William Carey University, falling directly behind the University of South Carolina and Indiana University, which are tied at No. 22.

UM offers four online graduate degrees designed to be accessible for education professionals including:

• Master of Arts in higher education
• Master of Education in early childhood education
• Master of Education in elementary education
• Specialist in Education in counselor education/play therapy

The School of Education began offering online degrees in 2010, when it accepted the first class into its online master’s degree in elementary education. In the past five years, the education school has attracted online students from more than 15 states in its four programs.

Education faculty are recruiting for the first class of the university’s new online master’s degree in early childhood education. It is the state’s only online master’s degree in the field and can lead to license endorsement from the Mississippi Department of Education.

“Today, it’s more important than ever to ensure quality graduate programs are accessible to working professionals,” said John Holleman, the school’s director of graduate studies. “We provide the academic quality of a flagship university in a way that fits into the lives of talented and hardworking professionals.”

The School of Education also offers a graduate certificate in program evaluation that can be completed online.

In 2015, the school made news when it unveiled three hybrid Ed.D. programs in higher education, mathematics education and educational leadership, which use a combination of online and in-person coursework designed for experienced practitioners, furthering its ongoing efforts to make quality graduate education accessible to working educators.

The school is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, the nation’s top education accrediting body for U.S. colleges and universities.

For more information about U.S. News & World Report rankings visit http://www.usnews.com/.

For more information about graduate programs at the UM School of Education, visit http://grad.education.olemiss.edu.

Courtesy of Andrew Mark Abernathy and the Ole Miss News Desk