2022 Best Online Bachelor's Degrees in the U.S.

Yes, you can earn online bachelor's degrees. Online school has moved from a rarity to an increasingly common path for many. Its flexibility, affordability, and lower risk of disease spread made it a popular option during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some Americans, online colleges were and remain their preferred way to learn — even beyond the pandemic.

In the fall of 2020, nearly 44% of four-year public college students took all of their classes online, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Even more students were mixing and matching online and in-person classes. And at for-profit colleges, 89% of students were enrolled fully online.

Today, all varieties of nonprofit and for-profit colleges provide accredited online degrees at the bachelor's level. Because of this increased focus on online education, OnlineU has created Salary Score rankings for online schools and programs to see how graduates fare in terms of salary when compared to others with the same degree across the country. This list allows students to discover the best online bachelor's degrees based on alumni earnings.

An online undergraduate degree is designed to take four years of full-time study to complete. This allows students enough time to properly learn a subject and evaluate their academic goals. However, some students may take more time to finish by studying at a part-time pace.

Alternatively, some of the best bachelor's degrees offer ways for students to fast-track their graduation. Accelerated programs feature shorter terms that run year-round to allow students to take more courses each year. Students may be able to shave a year off the time needed to graduate.

Check a school's credit transfer policy for another way to reduce the time spent earning your degree. Several schools offer credit for prior learning assessments that award academic credit to students with previous professional or military experience. Students can also demonstrate mastery in a subject by completing a portfolio or taking CLEP exams for credit that can be applied toward their degree.

Additionally, an online degree completion program is designed for adult students who have started but not completed a four-year degree, and they offer a faster and less expensive way for students to finish without starting over again. Applicants must have earned a minimum number of academic credits from previous institutions, usually between 50 and 60, or else substantial career or military experience.

Flexibility is one of the main draws of completing your education online. According to a 2019 report regarding online college students, 72% of undergraduate students worked full time or part time.

Most online bachelor's degree courses are delivered asynchronously to accommodate students' busy schedules. Asynchronous courses offer the most flexibility since students can view pre-recorded lectures and complete online coursework when it's convenient for them. In contrast, synchronous classes require students to log in at set times during the week.

Accredited online degrees are legitimate. The process of choosing the right college should always include accreditation. If a recognized agency has certified the quality of a school's online programs, then the credential is just as meaningful and respected as a diploma earned through in-person learning.

Fraudulent accrediting agencies give a stamp of approval to low-quality online colleges. The Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) is a national accreditor that certifies the quality of schools with online programs. Additionally, when researching the best online undergraduate degrees, consider schools that are listed in the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP).

Finally, some majors feature professional organizations that accredit individual programs, such as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) for engineering.

This question can't be answered in absolute terms because each person's strengths and weaknesses are different. It's better to decide on the best online universities for bachelor's degrees by considering which one will benefit your learning style and future career aspirations. In other words, there is not just one program we can crown as the “easiest online degree.” The easiest degree will likely vary from student to student based on their out-of-school commitments, academic background and abilities, and interest in the program they’re studying. This last point is backed up by research showing that students perform better in subjects they are interested in. This data may help students choose the best online bachelor degree programs based on their interests.

While this is a notable data point, you should also consider these important factors that can make a degree easier to obtain:

Indiana led with three colleges in the top 25: Purdue University Global, Indiana Wesleyan University Online, and Indiana University - East. However, they were concentrated towards the bottom of the list, at #18, #22, #23, respectively.

Minnesota and New Hampshire also have multiple online colleges featured in our top 20 rankings, with two apiece.

Minnesota’s Capella University and Walden University mirror Arizona’s top online schools: They are all private for-profit colleges. However, Capella’s #4 ranking and Walden’s #10 spots beat out any of Arizona’s schools.

That said, these two fully online Minnesotan schools teach just over 17,500 students. That is a fraction of the nearly 139,000 online students enrolled in Arizona’s three ranked schools.

New Hampshire and its two schools — Southern New Hampshire University Online (#9) and Granite State College (#10) — enroll more than 88,000 online students. However, Granite State has just over 1,500 online students, while Southern New Hampshire University Online enrolls nearly 87,000 online students, making it the second largest online school by enrollment on our top 20 list. It trails Utah’s massive Western Governors University (#6), the state’s only ranked school, with over 98,600 students enrolled.

Top 25 Breakdown by School Type

Most of the schools to rank in the top 25 online schools are private nonprofit institutions, making up just over half of the top 25. Public nonprofit colleges made up nearly a quarter of schools, while for-profit schools made up one out of every five colleges here.

Even though many of these online schools are private, their tuition rates are far lower than those of the top colleges on the on-campus bachelor's list. This can mean a better return on investment for some students, especially those who don’t need or want in-person education or the on-campus experience.

Among school types, for-profit online schools have received the highest average Salary Scores and seen a big jump from last year. This also means that for-profit online schools significantly outperform for-profit on-campus schools for bachelor’s degrees.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that the data used in Salary Score only includes salary data for students who finished their degree. This is especially relevant since for-profit schools tend to have lower completion rates than public ones.