The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or graduate school search.
For international undergraduate students both overseas and studying in the U.S., online learning can be a good choice, enabling them to pursue an education at a U.S. institution without having to leave their country of residence or travel to attend class.
In 2014-2015, a total of nearly 10,000 international students were enrolled in the more than 120 online ranked bachelor’s degree programs that reported these data to U.S. News.
[See five tips for researching online programs as an international student.]
Fort Hays State University was the online bachelor’s degree program with the highest percentage of international students , at 43 percent in 2014-2015, according to U.S. News data. With 7,180 students enrolled in Fort Hays’ program, more than 3,100 were international, making it the only online bachelor’s degree program in which international students comprised more than a quarter of the student body.
Meanwhile, the programs with the next largest percentages of international students had lower total enrollment and therefore had far fewer international students. Lawrence Technological University, for instance, which had the second-highest percentage of international students, enrolled only 22 international students in its online bachelor’s degree program, making up 24 percent of the 93 students total.
Similarly, the University of Maine–Fort Kent’s online bachelor’s degree program had 33 international students, which was 19 percent of the total student body. This earned it a spot among the 10 online bachelor’s degree programs that had the highest percentage of international students.
[Understand the challenges international students may face in online programs.]
A large majority of ranked online bachelor’s degree programs that reported the data to U.S. News had international student enrollment rates of 5 percent or less. Nearly 40 programs had international student populations with percentages that rounded to zero.
Below is a list of the 1 4 online bachelor’s degree programs with the most international students during the 2014-2015 academic year. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School (state) | Total enrollment | Percentage of international students | U.S. News rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Hays State University (KS) | 7,180 | 43% | 24 (tie) |
| Lawrence Technological University (MI) | 93 | 24% | 79 (tie) |
| Lynn University (FL) | 662 | 21% | 128 (tie) |
| University of Maine–Fort Kent | 171 | 19% | 120 (tie) |
| Monroe College (NY) | 570 | 18% | 120 (tie) |
| City University of Seattle | 2,557 | 10% | 27 (tie) |
| University of Illinois–Springfield | 1,133 | 10% | 30 (tie) |
| Savannah College of Art and Design (GA) | 657 | 6% | 24 (tie) |
| Academy of Art University (CA) | 2,689 | 6% | RNP* |
| College of Coastal Georgia | 22 | 5% | RNP |
| Fisher College (MA) | 169 | 5% | 180 (tie) |
| Northwestern Oklahoma State University | 244 | 5% | RNP |
| Ohio State University–Columbus | 264 | 5% | 7 (tie) |
| University of North Dakota | 1,456 | 5% | 208 |
RNP* denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its ranking category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
U.S. News surveyed 300 public, private and for-profit schools for our 2016 Best Online Bachelor’s Programs rankings. Schools reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of these survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Online Bachelor’s Programs rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. These data are specific to schools’ online bachelor’s degree program offerings and have no influence over U.S. News’ Best Colleges rankings assessing traditional bachelor’s programs. The enrollment data above are correct as of Jan. 19, 2016.
More from U.S. News
5 Tips for Researching Online Programs as an International Student
4 Online Education Program Considerations for International Students
U.S. Online Degrees Pose Challenges for International Students
Online Bachelor’s Degree Programs With the Most International Students originally appeared on usnews.com
