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Two UF online graduate programs ranked No. 1 in Florida

The University of Florida's online graduate business degree program ranks No. 1 in the state, according to Tuesday's U.S. News & World Report.

The program also ranked No. 4 in the nation, as compared to 213 other schools that offered online master's degree business programs.

Selcuk Erenguc, senior associate dean and director of the Hough Graduate School of Business, said the rankings reflect well on the school.

"What it tells us is that we put together the right components -- world class faculty and outstanding students, which we select through our very careful selection process," Erenguc said.

He said UF offers two different online MBA programs.

The first is only one year long and consists mostly of elective courses, he said, since the students enrolled received an undergraduate degree in business within the last seven years.

The second, which is two years long, is open to students with any undergraduate degree major. They are required to take business core classes before taking electives in their chosen field, which is why it takes longer.

"In the end, the online students get the same degree as our resident students. They go through the same rigorous program, and we have faculty who are well trained in delivering online education."

In addition, the university's online education program ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 18 in the nation.

Daniel McCoy, senior director of e-Learning, technology and creative services at UF’s college of education, said in a press release that the program's success can be attributed to its ability to attract "the best and brightest students."

"We provide world-class faculty who have embraced online education as a way to be innovative in their teaching, academic program development and increased access to students working in the field," McCoy said in the release.

U.S. News also ranked the online graduate engineering program as No. 2 in Florida and No. 26 in the nation. As a whole, the magazine ranked UF No. 34 nationally in the quality of its online bachelor’s degree programs, as compared to 237 other U.S. universities.

Rachel is a reporter for WUFT News who may be contacted by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news @wuft.org