{"id":117341,"date":"2021-01-26T09:21:28","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T14:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341//?p=117341"},"modified":"2026-05-26T09:21:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T13:21:03","slug":"ucf-celebrates-25-years-of-online-learning-with-top-15-u-s-ranking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341//ucf-celebrates-25-years-of-online-learning-with-top-15-u-s-ranking/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341//","title":{"rendered":"UCF Celebrates 25 Years of Online Learning with Top-15 U.S. Ranking"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the fourth consecutive year that UCF/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s online bachelor/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s programs have ranked among the top 20 in the nation. Last year, UCF tied at No. 16./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u201cOur high rankings are a testament to the terrific work of our talented faculty and instructional designers who produce engaging, high-quality courses that support our students/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019 success while also providing them with a flexible learning environment./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u201d
/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2014 President Alexander N. Cartwright/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n

Also from U.S. News & World Report, UCF ranked No. 12 (tie) for Best Online Graduate Criminal Justice Programs, No. 20 for Best Online Bachelor/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s Programs for Veterans, and No. 27 (tie) for Best Online Master/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s in Nursing Programs. This is based on the publication/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s 2021 Best Online Programs rankings, which assess schools on student engagement, online learning technologies and support, faculty credentials and training, and the program/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s reputation among other universities./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u201cOur high rankings are a testament to the terrific work of our talented faculty and instructional designers who produce engaging, high-quality courses that support our students/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019 success while also providing them with a flexible learning environment. Flexible access to high-quality courses continues to increase in importance,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u201d says President Alexander N. Cartwright./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n

The first online courses launched at UCF in 1996, marking this year the 25th anniversary of online learning for the university. These courses have only grown in popularity since, with about 87 percent of students now taking at least one online or blended learning course each academic year./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n

One of the factors that contributes to UCF/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s repeated success in online learning is the level of attention and detail put into creating the courses. Since 1996, UCF has invested in instructional designers who work with faculty members one-on-one to help design and develop their online courses. The working relationship paid off at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when faculty moved an additional 6,600 courses online in about a week./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n

This is part of a strategy, led by UCF/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s Center for Distributed Learning, to foster a culture that empowers faculty with training, technology and the support of experts in online teaching, application development, video and multimedia content that are critical to creating a quality online experience for students./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u201cI think online courses are such an opportunity for real, robust learning if you do it correctly,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u201d says Amy Gregory, associate professor of hospitality management./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n

That/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s why ever since she took one of the many courses offered by the Center for Distributed Learning that help faculty teach and develop online classes, she hasn/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019t been shy in connecting with Sue Bauer, an instructional designer. The two have worked together for nearly 10 years to enhance Gregory/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s classes./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u201cWe/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019ve utilized virtually every tool that/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s been available to us,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u201d says Gregory, who teaches various lodging courses at Rosen College./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n

Some of those tools are software that/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/u2019s been developed by the Center for Distributed Learning team at UCF over the last 25 years. They include interactive graphs, flashcards, video-embedding capabilities and more, and serve as an engaging way to have students interact with the course content./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/117341/n