N.C. State is usually recognized for its engineering department and bricks, but now another program is getting national attention. U.S. News & World Report ranked the University as top-notch for its online degree programs.

According to U.S. News & World Report’s list for best online education programs, distance education at State is top-notch. Honors went to the University’s online graduate engineering and computer information technology programs, which stood at seventh and ninth place respectively. NCSU also held spot number 17 on the list of top online graduate programs. UNC-Chapel Hill was not mentioned in the report.

The news comes after the University suspended the fee for online courses, meaning students no longer have to pay additional money for each credit hour they take online.

According to Distance Education and Learning Technology Application academic advisor Lynda Hambourger, whether the new system is an advantage or disadvantage depends on the individual student. “For example, a non-degree student may have to pay more for a lab he or she takes on campus, than for the online course that accompanies the lab,” Hambourger said.

“It is the artifact of the way the system is set up,” Hambourger said.  

According to Hambourger, many students use online courses to fulfill their general education requirements. “However, students are still unable to complete their entire undergraduate degree online,” Hambourger said.

“Leadership in the Public Sector is the only undergraduate online degree program that is offered to students, but they can only enroll with a minimum of 60 credit hours,” Hambourger said. According to Hambourger, most of the University’s online programs are for master’s degree students, and many are geared toward engineering.

“These programs have had a long track record and good reputation. Not many other institutions offer programs like that online, so we stand out,” Hambourger said.

U.S. News & World Report ranked Duke University as number 69 in best online graduate nursing programs. 

“Good online courses and programs are well structured and provide avenues of communication between classmates and their instructors,” Hambourger said.

Junior in elementary education, Anna Neumann, said she “enjoyed the convenience of the five online courses she has taken since coming to the University.”

“Overall, I thought they were pretty good,” Neumann said. “Professors were very available on campus and answered any questions students had.” 

Neumann said she only wishes the fee for online courses had been dropped sooner, as the rest of her required courses are only offered on campus.

When the fee was in place, Neumann felt like she was being charged for a class twice and did not understand why she had to pay extra for a teacher who “wasn’t even on campus.”

According to Hambourger, complaints like these prompted DELTA Director and Senior Vice Provost for Academic Outreach and Entrepeneurship, Thomas Miller, to spearhead a committee that voted to remove the fees.

After the change, enrollment in online classes increased.

“We were really scrounging for seats in Spring 2013, but now many are open after students dropped classes,” Hambourger said.

Hambourger said the students who succeed in online courses tend to be more mature and self-disciplined.

“Students tend to think if it’s online I can just do the assignments the last week of class.  That’s not true because instructors have deadlines,” Hambourger said.

Neumann said one of her online instructors set up class in three segments per week, so it was similar to the time commitment she had to make for her other classes on campus.

Online courses come with their disadvantages, as well.

“More young people are participating in the online world, but you may miss the need for emotional, one-on-one contact online,” Hambourger said.

Because of the increase in online usage, modes of instruction are evolving, as well.  MyPack Portal lists modes of instruction that include in person – remote, Internet hybrid and rich media.

“The whole system is changing rapidly so the distance between online and on campus classes is blurring,” Hambourger said.