America's Best Online Learning Schools 2022
A lot of American college and university students are learning online. According to the U.S. Department of Education, as of 2019, the latest year for which figures are available, 79 percent of U.S. colleges offered either standalone courses or entire degree programs online. That figure included about 96 percent of all public two and four-year colleges. As of 2018, the Department estimated, about 7 million college students were taking some or all of their classes online. The pandemic has only added to the growth of online education. By one recent estimate, the number of students enrolled exclusively in online programs had jumped 93 percent from 2019 to 2020.
The range of choices can be daunting. For the first time, Newsweek and Statista are recognizing 182 institutions that offer online learning courses or online college/university degrees to adult learners. We divided the institutions into two groups: "America's Top Online Colleges" (150 colleges and universities that offer online degree programs, including hybrid programs with online and offline courses or exams) and "America's Top Online Learning Providers" (32 institutions other than a university or college which provide access to their own or third-party online courses).
If you are looking for quality online education for yourself or a loved one, we hope you will find our listings helpful.
| Legal Name | Brand Name | Award | Course aggregator platform | Types of course and topics of classes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Academy Holdings LLC | AAPC | ★★★★★ | No | Health |
| AcademicEarth.org, a Red Ventures Company | Academic Earth | ★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT, Health, Legal, Arts & Design, Education |
| Alison | Alison | ★★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT, Health, Education, Languages, Skilled Trades, Soft Skills |
| American Heart Association, Inc. | American Heart Association | ★★★★ | No | Health |
| The American National Red Cross | American Red Cross | ★★★★★ | No | Health |
| Triumph Higher Education Corporation | Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts | ★★★★★ | No | Hospitality |
| Amazon Web Services, Inc. | AWS Training and Certification | ★★★★ | No | IT |
| Instructure, Inc. | Canvas Network | ★★★★★ | Yes | Education, Soft Skills |
| Career Step, LLC | CareerStep | ★★★★ | No | Business, IT, Health |
| CLASS 101, LLC. | CLASS101 | ★★★★ | Yes | Arts & Design |
| Ryzac, Inc. | Codecademy | ★★★★ | Yes | IT |
| Computing Technology Industry Association | CompTIA | ★★★★ | No | IT |
| Coursera, Inc. | Coursera | ★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT, Health, Arts & Design, Education, Languages, Soft Skills |
| Duolingo, Inc. | Duolingo | ★★★★★ | No | Languages |
| edX Inc. | edX | ★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT, Health, Legal, Arts & Design, Education, Languages, Skilled Trades, Soft Skills |
| Fred Pryor Seminars | Fred Pryor | ★★★★★ | No | Business, IT, Soft Skills |
| Google LLC | ★★★★★ | No | Business, IT, Soft Skills | |
| HubSpot, Inc. | HubSpot Academy | ★★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT |
| Khan Academy, Inc. | Khan Academy | ★★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT, Soft Skills |
| LinkedIn Learning | LinkedIn Learning | ★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT, Arts & Design, Soft Skills |
| MasterClass | MasterClass | ★★★★ | Yes | Business, Arts & Design, Sports / Fitness, Soft Skills |
| Microsoft Corporation | Microsoft 365 Training Center | ★★★★★ | No | IT |
| Penn Foster Inc. | Penn Foster | ★★★★ | No | Business, IT, Health, Legal, Arts & Design, Education, Hospitality, Skilled Trades, Sports / Fitness |
| Project Management Institute, Inc. | Project Management Institute | ★★★★★ | No | Business |
| Rosetta Stone Inc. | Rosetta Stone | ★★★★★ | No | Languages |
| Saylor Academy | Saylor Academy | ★★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT, Arts & Design, Languages, Soft Skills |
| National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation | ServSafe | ★★★★ | No | Hospitality |
| Shaw Academy Ltd. | Shaw Academy | ★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT, Arts & Design, Sports / Fitness |
| Skillshare, Inc. | Skillshare | ★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT, Arts & Design, Soft Skills |
| Weston Distance Learning, Inc. | U.S. Career Institute | ★★★★ | No | Business, Health, Legal, Sports / Fitness |
| Udemy, Inc. | Udemy | ★★★★★ | Yes | Business, IT, Health, Arts & Design, Education, Languages, Sports / Fitness, Soft Skills |
| Universal Class™ | UniversalClass | ★★★★ | No | Business, IT, Health, Arts & Design, Education, Languages, Sports / Fitness, Soft Skills |
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Methodology
The rankings are based on an online survey among U.S. residents who have used online learning services to obtain an academic degree or acquire knowledge and skills for their job (professional development) or hobbies (personal development).Between July 26 and September 13, 2021, Statista surveyed more than 9,000 individuals in the United States. Survey respondents indicated which institutions they used to obtain an online degree or where they attended an online course. In the next step, respondents shared their experiences by rating the institutions regarding several criteria. Finally, respondents could indicate how satisfied they were with the organization and to what extent they would recommend it to others.
User reviews and additional institutional indicators were transformed into score values and aggregated toward a final score. To receive an award, institutions needed an above average total score value. The awarded institutions received either five stars, if their final score value is above the median score of all awarded institutions, or four stars, if their score is below this threshold.
The top lists were created through an elaborate process: Participants' responses as well as the final selection of institutions in each list were carefully reviewed. Statista makes no statement about the quality of education institutions or learning providers that are not included in the list and their reputations are not disputed.
For the full methodology, download this file.