As if another reason was needed to be proud of the University of Wyoming, the master’s degree in English is ranked nationally by the SR Education Group (SREG) as one of the best available in the United States.
SREG ranked the university 13th in the country for “Best Online Colleges for a Master’s in English.” The rankings, which are for 2019, base themselves upon potential salary and the rates of tuition. The research done to create these rankings also included annual tuition rates and the average mid-career salary as posted by PayScale, a website which provides users with information about salary, benefits and compensation, to determine the best value schools for students. Schools that appear on this list are attractive to students due to their high return on investment and the assurance these schools provide about maintaining affordability.
“We are thrilled to see our distance MA degree included on the SER Group’s rankings,” Michael Edson, director of graduate studies, said in a press release.
Aside from being ranked in a list for best overall online master’s degrees, the program was also ranked 16th in the nation for “Most Affordable Master’s in English Online.” According to SREG, these rankings are for online schools that are dedicated to providing options for students that are not only affordable, but also economical. These rankings are researched manually by the education research publisher on an annual basis to provide lists regarding every accredited college in the country that offers fully online degrees.
The online program at the University of Wyoming is a cohort-based, three-year program designed for students who are already working professionals. Students in the program will take all the same courses as the regular program on campus, but will also meet via Zoom, a remote conferencing software, and each summer at UW for a weeklong residency course.
“The program builds great community even when students live in California, Colorado and Texas,” Edson said. “We work hard to provide students with personalized mentoring and professionalization, and this ranking shows that we’re providing excellent experience and credentials while keeping costs low.”
The university has done an excellent job with the online English master’s degree program as evidenced by the rankings by SREG. Kelly Kinney, the English department head at UW, stated her satisfaction with the online graduate program and Edson’s work in another interview with UW News.
“I am proud the department has been honored with these national awards,” Kinney said in a press release. “While we have students from across the country pursuing the degree for a variety of reasons, I think it’s fair to say that most of our students value the program for the ways that it expands their professional experiences as high school language arts educators. As we grow the degree, I hope we can develop more programming that helps working professionals meet a variety of career goals, whether in education, nonprofit and public humanities work, professional writing or elsewhere.”
For more information about SREG, please visit their website at www.sreducationgroup.org. For more information about the program at UW, email Edson at medson@uwyo.edu or Kinney at Kelly.kinney@uwyo.edu.
