LONGMEADOW – Recently, Bay Path University was ranked eighth out of 72 Massachusetts colleges for online programs, ranked by onlinecolleges.com.  According to a release provided by the website, “Ranking accredited colleges and universities on a variety of factors, including affordability, student services and the availability of online programs.  The result is a list of the best online colleges in the U.S. that is built into this interactive, Top Online Colleges Tool.”

Provost Mellissa Morriss-Olson believes that there are three distinct reasons why Bay Path’s program was ranked so highly.  One of them being when the campus first launched their fully online graduate program in Nonprofit Management for the 2006-2007 school year, the campus was committed to give a high quality education regardless of medium.

“We established a campus center for online learning and provided this center with the resources to make sure that faculty and students were adequately supported and classes were well designed and delivered.  As a result, all of our online programs are well designed and based on best practices for online teaching and learning,” Morriss-Olson explained.

Additionally, Bay Path requires professors who decide to teach an online course complete an orientation before teaching their first class, and their students are required to take an orientation before taking their first online class as well.

“I believe that this is part of what sets Bay Path apart, this commitment to providing the resources necessary to ensure that the online learning experience is a good one, for students and faculty alike,” Morriss-Olson said.

Morriss-Olson noted that each year Bay Path surveys their students for a myriad of reasons, and the survey reflects that their online students “love their experience at Bay Path.”

“Across all programs, they report that their learning is significant, sometimes even more so than what they learn in on campus courses, that the learning experience is highly dynamic and that they have a lot of interaction with their peers and faculty and that their faulty are very accessible to them,” Morriss-Olson said.

In addition, through The American Womens College (TAWC) Bay Path’s online undergraduate program established in 2013 in an effort to provide adult women with the access to education built around “SOUL” (social online universal learning) with a “high-tech, high-touch educational and wraparound-support system.”  In 2014, Bay Path was given a $3.5 million dollar “First in the World” grant from the U.S. Department of Education, which went toward the development of SOUL.

“We believe online learning is important for several reasons, most importantly because this delivery model allows us to provide access to education to busy adults, and increasingly younger adults, who otherwise might not be able to complete their education,” Morriss-Olson said. “Providing educational access, particularly for women, is an important priority for Bay Path.  When a woman is able to complete her education, the ripple effect for her family, her community and the greater society can be hugely impactful.  Online education makes that a reality.”

Bay Path offers several graduate programs that are available both online and on campus so students have the flexibility to choose which form will fit with their schedules based on their personal circumstances.

“We also believe that the online learning experience levels the playing field for individuals, especially those who may not be as prone to speak up in an on ground course.  In the online classroom, students cannot hide.  Their work and presence are made more transparent, and this ensures a richer and deeper learning experience for most students,” Morriss-Olson shared.

Bay Path offers online programs at the graduate level for men and women and at the undergraduate level for adult women through the TAWC.  There are 13 graduate programs that have fully online options, including the college’s first doctoral program, Occupational Therapy, which launched this month.

According to Morriss-Olson, 50 percent of the total student enrollment of 3,300 is studying either fully online or in a hybrid format, which is half online and half on campus.

“Every year we see this number and percentage of the total inching up.  Clearly, online learning is here to stay.  We feel fortunate that we entered this arena many years ago and have had these years to continually improve the experience for our students,” Morriss-Olson said.

Bay Path is in its 120th year post-establishment, and Morriss-Olson says the college’s “innovative spirit is alive and well.”

“This recognition follows on several other awards that we have received in recent years and is a fitting tribute for a University that has always been ahead of the curve in responding to the needs of our students and marketplace,” Morriss-Olson added.  “For our university, online learning is a highly effective means of expanding educational access to hundreds of adult students each year, students who otherwise might not be completing their education.  Being recognized for this mission is a wonderful thing indeed.”