Portland State University’s College of Education (COE) this week advanced 20 places in its ranking for the U.S. News Best Online Graduate Education Programs—specifically, master’s degrees.
U.S. News announced today that the COE had moved from 89th out of 299 in the category in 2019 to tie for 69th out of 298 this year. The ranking methodology rates performance in areas including engagement with instructors and classmates, varied options for distance learning services and technology, student excellence, and faculty credentials. The results of a survey of experts are also incorporated.
College of Education Dean Marvin Lynn says he is pleased with the improved ranking."We are pleased, but not altogether surprised, that the U.S. News ranking of the PSU College of Education (COE) has increased significantly,” COE Dean Marvin Lynn said. “The COE provides an excellent—and affordable—academic option for future teachers and leaders as the largest and most diverse College of Education in the entire State of Oregon."
Online master’s programs at the COE include a Master of Early Childhood: Inclusive Education and Curriculum & Instruction, which is featured on the site. This program centers around inclusion and early childhood education with four specializations in Infant Toddler Mental Health, Constructivism, Special Education or a focus on a problem of practice that emerges from one of the other specializations.
Early Childhood Education Program Co-Coordinator and Associate Professor John Nimmo noted that "the early childhood program has achieved broad accessibility with students coming from 24 states and 18 countries in the four years since its inception."
Other major master’s programs in the COE with fully online enrollment available include the master’s in Curriculum & Instruction in the department by the same name, a master’s in Postsecondary Adult and Continuing Education in the Educational Leadership and Policy Department, and the master’s in the Visually Impaired Learner or Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education programs in the Special Education Department.
The COE’s ranking could improve further still, with the advent of the Oregon Legislature’s recent decision to invest in education, and funds coming available this year.
“The new Student Success Act passed by the Oregon Legislature last May provided annual funding of $200 million to support infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families,” said Elizabeth Snyder, a recruiter in the early childhood master’s program for the COE.
To share stories on the COE, email Jillian Daley.