VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University ranked in the top 10 in the 2018 Most Affordable Online Colleges and Degrees list by an SR Education Group study. 

SR Education Group is an education research publisher founded in 2004, Victoria Duan of SR Education Group said in an email. 

“The 2018 Most Affordable Online Colleges rankings emphasize value by providing lists of schools offering online programs that are high quality, affordable and based in value rather than prestige alone,” Duan stated. “This year, SR Education Group manually researched over 1,000 colleges to create four separate ranking lists that highlight the 25 most cost-effective online colleges by degree level, as well as an overall most affordable list.”

VSU was seventh in most affordable online bachelor’s degree and fifth in most affordable online master’s degrees, according to the study. 

The online undergraduate tuition listed for VSU was $7,500, which used the B.A. in legal assistant studies as a representation of the school’s undergraduate tuition rate. According to the list, annual tuition was calculated for 30 credits per hour and used $250 cost per credit; more information on the calculation as well as the full list on affordable degrees is available at onlineu.org/most-affordable-colleges. 

The online graduate tuition listed for VSU was $4,395, which was found using 15 credits per year and $293 cost per credit. More information on the calculation as well as the full list can be viewed at onlineu.org/most-affordable-colleges/masters-degrees. 

“This is another wonderful accomplishment for Valdosta State University,” Jarrod Murray, interim director of VSU Center for eLearning, said in an email. “VSU has worked diligently to offer affordable and effective online learning to our students. Having affordable online classes makes it possible for any student, regardless of their stage in life, to be successful in their academic pursuits. VSU’s number one priority is the success of our students at an affordable cost.” 

He said VSU’s affordable online courses retain the same rigor of face-to-face classes via partnerships with academic and administrative departments throughout VSU. He said the learning content for online courses is provided by experienced full-time faculty and the courses are designed by highly trained instructional designers to meet students’ needs.  

“Through the hard work of our faculty and eLearning team, we have been able to achieve many goals for our university, including offering more for less for our online students,” Murray said.    

According to VSU, the university offers more than 50 bachelor’s, master’s, specialist and doctoral degrees; endorsements; certificates; minors; and more online. Visit valdosta.edu/academics/online-programs for more information.

Kimberly Cannon is a Reporter with The Valdosta Daily Times. Her extension is 1376.