Many students earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Maryland, Virginia Tech and George Washington University without setting foot on campus — except at graduation.
Online degree programs at these and other regional schools make it possible to go to college without moving or commuting. They are also among the highest ranked in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report’s 2026 Best Online Programs.
“Virtually all U.S. colleges and universities have some form of online or remote education,” said LaMont Jones, U.S. News and World Report’s managing editor for education. “Often it’s completely remote.”
In the overall bachelor’s degree category, only George Washington University is in the top 30. Its School of Medicine and Health Sciences is in a nine-way tie for 29th place.
The online master’s programs at Maryland, D.C. and Virginia universities fare better.
For example, five local universities are in the top 20 for online master’s in engineering: George Washington (number 5), Johns Hopkins University (tied at number 6), University of Maryland-College Park (tied at number 11), Virginia Tech (number 14), and Virginia Commonwealth University (tied at number 18).
“A correlation between schools that have strong residential programs and strong online programs is that they are not trying to create an entirely new curriculum from scratch,” Jones said.
“They are using what works in their traditional programs, in their in-person programs, and making that into an online format so that students are getting the same quality of education.”
Online colleges attract students of all ages and backgrounds. Jones said the largest share of remote graduate students are older, and require more flexibility because of their jobs and families.
And in online bachelor’s programs, “you also have some more traditional college-age who maybe want to save money and don’t want to spend the money to live on a campus and the related costs,” Jones said.
The flexibility also extends to admissions deadlines. At many schools, the deadline for in-person enrollment this fall has passed, but their online programs typically accept applications all year.
Once admitted, students’ start dates are not tied to the traditional academic calendar. Jones said there are programs, using asynchronous learning, with as many as 12 start dates in a year.
The full Best Online Programs report is at USNews.com.
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