New Mexico State University's online industrial engineering master's program has been independently reviewed and ranked in second place nationwide by GetEducated.com as a top "Best Buy" for engineering professionals seeking a high-quality, low-cost online degree.
The rankings can be found at http://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-rankings/best-buy-lists/best-buy-masters-engineering.
Engineering online education programs, led by Industrial Engineering Department Head Edward Pines, includes master's programs in industrial engineering and electrical engineering. A graduate certificate in systems engineering is also offered and graduate courses in mechanical and aerospace engineering are being added to the distance education offerings. The college offers an undergraduate bachelor's completion program in Information and Communication Technology via distance education, which Pines says is very popular.
"I think that the rankings demonstrate that we have a strong and active relationship, through the use of technology, with our students. We can provide an almost life-like classroom experience with technology," said Pines. "Virtually every student enrolled in the industrial engineering department takes at least one distance education course."
The College of Engineering has been offering distance education courses since the mid-1980s. Pines became director of the program in 2003. The industrial engineering graduate distance education program has been among the fastest growing graduate programs in the college, with broad appeal to working professionals in industry, the military and national laboratories.
The industrial engineering master's program provides flexibility to match career needs. Students can focus their study on operations research and systems analysis or on engineering management and computer modeling.
The Get Educated Best Buy affordable online degree rankings are based on a national survey of 60 regionally accredited universities that offer 193 different online engineering master's degrees. The rankings highlight the top 44 degrees in this field.
To appear on a Get Educated Best Buy ranking list, the online degree profiled must objectively cost less than the average of all the online degrees reviewed in the comprehensive national data set.
The average cost of an online engineering master's, according to the comprehensive national ranking survey, is $27,957.
The top-ranked Best Buy, East Carolina University, charges $6,360 for an online master's degree in engineering. NMSU's 2nd place ranking was based on its industrial engineering master's degree program which costs an estimated $9,120.
By comparison, the most expensive online master's degree comes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at an estimated cost of $100,650.
A Get Educated "Best Online Universities" ranking indicates that NMSU's online master's degree program has been independently reviewed, compared to its peers in a comprehensive national survey, and found to offer one of the best values in online graduate education for engineers nationwide.
Get Educated is a consumer group that provides fact-based comparative data on 3,817 accredited online degrees as a service to help students locate the highest-quality online education programs in selected career areas.
The NMSU College of Engineering online graduate program earned "Honor Roll" recognition in the inaugural U.S. News 2012 Top Online Education Program rankings. NMSU engineering ranked in two of four categories for graduate online engineering programs: 25th in the student services and technology category, reflecting the number of services and technologies available to students; and 26th in student engagement, indicating the ease with which students can participate in class and interact with instructors.
For more information about online engineering programs, contact Pines at 575-646-4923 or visit http://de.nmsu.edu/.