The online M.B.A program at WTAMU has been recognized by the U.S. News and World Report for the second year running, while the Online Graduate Nursing Program is receiving this honor for the first time.

The 2014 Best Online Programs list, released by U.S. News and World Report, is meant as a resource for students to use for information regarding online programs best suited for the completion of their degree. Only programs that grant degrees were considered for the list, and each program was judged on student engagement, faculty credentials, peer reputation and student services and technology.

The Online Graduate Business Program came in at 27^th overall out of 236 total programs that were considered in the U.S. News and World Report rankings for 2014. Not only did the program finish well overall, but it did well in some of the individual categories as well. The school came in second in regional universities in the West. It also finished 10^th in student service and technology, 19^th in admissions selectivity, 24^th in student engagement and 53^rd in the faculty credentials category.

“The online MBA program moved in ranking from 56^th overall in 2013 to 27^th overall in U.S. News and World Report for 2014,” Dr. LaVelle Mills, Associate Dean of Graduate Business Programs and professor of management, said. “We have also attained AACSB accreditation, the gold standard for accreditation of programs in business. There are several strategic initiatives we are pursuing that will help us continue to enhance the business program in the near future but receiving national ranking is important validation for our faculty, staff, students and business community partners.”

The Online Graduate Nursing Program can be found on the list at the 41 spot. This program also did well in individual categories, finishing an outstanding ninth in student engagement, 15^th in faculty credentials, 80^th in admissions selectivity and 97^th in student services and technology.

“WT’s nursing graduates for 2012-13 achieved a first-time pass rate of 94.5% on the NCLEX licensing examination,” Dr. J. Dirk Nelson, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, said. “WT’s performance in this assessment exceeded nursing graduates from Texas Tech University, Texas Christian University, Baylor University, as well as the University of Texas at Austin.  Allow me to emphasize that WT accomplished this at a substantially lower expense (expense to the citizens of Texas and/or expense to students) than the aforementioned universities. I challenge any university in the state of Texas to use its resources as cost-efficiently as West Texas A&M.”

There were also two other programs at the university recognized by the U.S. News and World Report. The Online Bachelor’s Program and Online Graduate Education Program were both ranked in the 2014 list.