U.S. News & World Report's best online programs: See where Long Island colleges rank

Several Long Island colleges and universities have been named among the nation’s highest-rated online programs, the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings show.

Stony Brook University’s online master’s degree in nursing was ranked 8th out of 201 online nursing programs across the country. The ranking held steady from last year, when Stony Brook tied with Vanderbilt University in Nashville for 8th place. This year, Vanderbilt shared 9th place with two other schools.

At Stony Brook, roughly 90% of the faculty hold doctoral degrees and the 628 students in its online master’s programs have access to flexible, collaborative programs, said Patricia Bruckenthal, dean of the school of nursing.

“The students feel that they are connected and they have access to their professors, and we also have opportunities for the online students to come to campus for simulation practices, so that they can practice case scenarios in a safe environment,” Bruckenthal said. Admission rates range from 33% to 80%, and part-time students typically complete the online program in three years, she said.

Nicole Kelly, 31, who works as a registered nurse at a Bronx infusion clinic for children undergoing treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses, expects to earn her master’s degree as a pediatric nurse practitioner this spring. Stony Brook’s program has been “extremely, extremely informative,” she said. “I have learned more than I possibly could have imagined.”

Stony Brook also earned spots on the U.S. News lists for its online master’s degrees in education (ranked 76th), as well as its master’s in human resource management, classified by U.S. News as a master’s in business (also 76th) and a separate MBA program (107th).

Hofstra University in Hempstead earned 14th place on U.S. News’ list of best online MBA programs, unchanged from last year and tied with the University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium and six other schools.

The MBA program includes about 150 students and typically takes 16 to 28 months to complete, according to Hofstra. Small classes, lots of collaboration and highly qualified students and faculty are among the program’s attractions, said Charlie Riordan, Hofstra provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Professors “are really adept at bringing in real world insight and experience to the classroom,” he said.

Hofstra also ranked 90th place nationally for best online master’s in education, advancing 14 places to crack the top 100 in the country.

Molloy University was ranked 125th for its online bachelor’s program, 130th for its master’s in nursing and 205th and 259th, respectively, for its master’s in education and MBA online programs.

Molloy has “a huge quality assurance program” that includes lots of professional development for faculty, said Amy Gaimaro, dean of the Rockville Centre school’s online and blended programs.

Adelphi’s online master’s degree in education was ranked 125th in the country. The Garden City school has streamlined its program and redesigned lessons to emphasize real-world practices, not just theory, said Xiao-lei Wang, dean of Adelphi’s education and health sciences program. “The students who take our courses can apply those [lessons] immediately in their classrooms,” she said.

New York Institute of Technology, which has an Old Westbury campus, had three online master’s programs on the U.S. News lists: engineering (60th), information technology (64th) and education (133rd).

St. Joseph’s University, New York, whose Long Island campus is in Patchogue, was ranked 201st for its online bachelor’s program. St. Joseph’s also offers online master’s degrees that were ranked 205th for education, in the 167-221 range for non-MBA programs in business and in the 276-364 range for MBA programs.

Touro University, which has a health sciences program and law programs in Central Islip, has a Manhattan-based online education master’s program that tied with Hofstra and five other schools for 90th place.