By Mechell Clark McCrary
Fort Valley State University has been named one of 2021’s best schools for online programs and courses in healthcare education by EduMed.org. FVSU earned honors for distance education as one of the top 50 schools with the Most Affordable Online Counseling Master’s Degrees. FVSU is among only 8 percent of U.S. post-secondary institutions earning a position on the list.
“We are delighted at this honor and recognition. It is a testament to the dedication of our faculty and their commitment to student success,” said Dr. Olufunke Fontenot, FVSU Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. “Our online programs focus on meeting the needs of students for whom convenience, flexibility, and quality matter.”
FVSU’s recognition comes at a time when students across the country are taking more of their courses either fully or partially online. According to data from the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics, enrollment in online courses increased by 93 percent between Fall 2019 and Fall 2020. In addition, nearly two-thirds of college students took at least one online course in 2020.
“We set out to find schools that are making online education a priority,” said Wes Ricketts, founder of EduMed.org. “Each school in our rankings has a winning combination of flexibility, affordability, academic rigor and student support. This is a tall task in a field that leans on face-to-face interaction and hands-on training.”
Rickets continued by saying COVID-19 forced many schools to rapidly expand their online program catalogs to meet increased student demand. “The colleges that offer accredited online courses in the widest variety of disciplines stand to benefit the most from the mass transition to higher education online.”
EduMed.org researched and analyzed more than 7,700 accredited schools using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and from the schools themselves. The website’s data science team then applied a proprietary algorithm to rank all qualifying schools for each healthcare discipline. Primary data points include:
- Number of online programs in subject area
- Online program tuition and fees
- Access to academic counseling
- Access to career placement services
- Number of online students
- Percentage of students with institutional aid
“The FVSU Rehabilitation Counseling program has been one of our university’s outstanding online offerings for many years. We are delighted to have this recognition as we continue to serve students throughout our country,” Dr. Darryl Hancock, interim assistant vice president for Online Learning and Faculty Affairs at FVSU.
To be eligible, a school must hold active regional accreditation and have at least one partially online program in the ranking subject.
