Find top-ranked online bachelor’s in education degree programs that will prepare students for the teacher certification exams mandated by each state.
A bachelor’s degree in education is a four-year program that prepares you for a career in education or teaching. For online schools, this program may also be completed in four years, although some schools offer acceleration programs to allow students to finish the course more quickly.
People who hold an online bachelor’s in education degree usually work as high school teachers, middle school teachers, and elementary school teachers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), teaching positions are expected to grow 4-5% in the next decade.
If you seek a teaching job in a specific age group or subject area, make sure you use the required field time to obtain experience in this specific area. Employers will prefer applicants who know the job they are applying for.
Also, consider continuing on to get a master’s degree. This degree usually results in better career opportunities and higher salaries.
There are many professional training opportunities and lectures available to teachers as well. Many of them cover the latest curriculum trends and technology. Be sure to take advantage of them.
Leading a classroom is an incredibly rewarding career. The best path to becoming a teacher is by first becoming a student in an education program. The bachelor’s degree in education prepares students to sit for the teacher certification exams mandated by each state.
Education majors will learn everything they need to successfully manage a classroom, network with parents and administration, and create engaging assignments and assessments. A degree in education will typically focus on one age group or subject area so that students have a deep understanding of the group they plan to teach.
Programs take 4 years or less and can be completed online or in-person. Both types of degree usually require students to complete a practicum in a classroom in order to gain real world teaching experience.
Learn more about how to major in education.
An online bachelor’s degree program in education offers every student the opportunity to truly become experts in their field. We indexed some of the country’s best web-based education degrees at the undergraduate level. All are considered excellent programs.
A standout feature of each school is the superior coursework they offer to impart to every future teacher the modern theories, principles, and techniques of the practice.
Besides technical knowledge and the basics of ethical practice, the coursework also promotes the most important skills for a teacher to possess, including patience, a genuine love for teaching, and a deep concern for the welfare of students.
Professors who are notable for their contributions to the field make up the teaching staff in the bachelor’s in education online programs of the schools on our list.
Each program has earned the nod of regional accrediting academic agencies, proving the top-quality teaching degree online programs they offer.
The following graph depicts the average salaries of similar occupations to Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in the U.S.
Source: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
40%
Graduation
88%
Student body
39K
Median SAT/ACT
1355/31
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
73%
Student body
26K
Median SAT/ACT
1215/26
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
88%
Graduation
66%
Student body
73K
Median SAT/ACT
1210/24
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
62%
Graduation
78%
Student body
33K
Median SAT/ACT
1240/28
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
83%
Graduation
70%
Student body
25K
Median SAT/ACT
1185/26
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
96%
Graduation
49%
Student body
19K
Median SAT/ACT
1065/21
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
94%
Graduation
66%
Student body
24K
Median SAT/ACT
1095/21
Tuition + fees
$29K
Acceptance
59%
Graduation
57%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1169/23
Tuition + fees
$23K
Acceptance
99%
Graduation
62%
Student body
79K
Median SAT/ACT
1145/25
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
59%
Student body
25K
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
93%
Graduation
61%
Student body
14K
Median SAT/ACT
1135/23
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
24%
Student body
7K
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
73%
Student body
20K
Median SAT/ACT
1155/24
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
39%
Student body
9K
Tuition + fees
$38K
Acceptance
87%
Graduation
56%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1110/22
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
96%
Graduation
52%
Student body
13K
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
99%
Graduation
45%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1145/21
Tuition + fees
$3K
Graduation
36%
Student body
17K
Tuition + fees
$12K
Graduation
24%
Student body
7K
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
75%
Graduation
51%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1055/27
Tuition + fees
$3K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
43%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1000/19
Tuition + fees
$26K
Acceptance
71%
Graduation
46%
Student body
9K
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
99%
Graduation
40%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1192/19
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
55%
Graduation
47%
Student body
25K
Tuition + fees
$8K
Student body
<1K
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
22%
Student body
1K
Tuition + fees
$4K
Acceptance
79%
Graduation
61%
Student body
11K
Median SAT/ACT
1120/22
Tuition + fees
$33K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
47%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1045/20
Tuition + fees
$19K
Acceptance
41%
Graduation
62%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1080/25
Tuition + fees
$22K
Acceptance
47%
Graduation
29%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
995/19
Tuition + fees
$12K
Graduation
23%
Student body
10K
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
97%
Graduation
32%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
960/19
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
66%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1105/23
Tuition + fees
$3K
Graduation
39%
Student body
15K
Tuition + fees
$32K
Acceptance
56%
Graduation
60%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1040/19
Tuition + fees
$31K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
39%
Student body
1K
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
48%
Student body
16K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/21
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
66%
Student body
21K
Median SAT/ACT
1135/24
Tuition + fees
$27K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
73%
Student body
9K
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
23%
Student body
9K
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
74%
Graduation
39%
Student body
5K
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
83%
Graduation
53%
Student body
11K
Median SAT/ACT
1065/21
Tuition + fees
$14K
Acceptance
57%
Graduation
60%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1190/23
Tuition + fees
$28K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
61%
Student body
1K
Tuition + fees
$7K
Graduation
39%
Student body
2K
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
54%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1037/20
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
96%
Graduation
42%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
930/19
Tuition + fees
$9K
Student body
2K
Tuition + fees
$27K
Acceptance
90%
Graduation
66%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/20
Tuition + fees
$25K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
58%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1080/21
If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require a time of adjustment. Although you’ll typically learn the same material and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, going online will require greater independence and responsibility than going in person. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, for harnessing the online educational technology that you’ll need to use, and for completing the course requirements, such as listening to lectures, learning lessons, reading texts, and handing in assignments. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take the initiative in building relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.
No. The only part of online education that’s easier than campus-based education is ease of access: all you need is a computer and an internet connection for online education. But even this seeming advantage of online education can be misleading: what’s easier, studying online with your computer and internet connection from your home where you need to cook, clean, pay rent, and maintain a job? Or studying on campus in a dorm where all your living needs are handled by the school, and college staff are there to help you every step of the way?
If you take the commute to campus out of the equation, campus-based education is easier. All the support structures available on campus for students, especially with real people to help you in person, are not there online. The demands on you as an online student will largely be the same as for your campus-based counterpart, but without the same helps.
In general, your online courses will present the same material and test you in the same way as traditional in-person courses. In many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning with remote educational technology for the first time, online college may be considerably more challenging than campus-based college. For a few insights on how to manage this new online experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.
Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable non-profit institutions on the one end and less-than-reputable for-profit institutions on the other end. Accreditation gives you the power to identify the more reputable actors in online education. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency indicating that a college or university is meeting standards of quality and credibility. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.
Attending a college or university that is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. For students seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that they opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree. For more on this important topic, check out our What is Accreditation and Why Does It Matter? College & University Accreditation Guide.
As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited (see the previous point), you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer of credits. In many cases, you will encounter some bureaucratic haggling in which some of your credits will be transferred and others may be refused. However, provided that you have attended an online school with recognized regional accreditation, you should be in good shape in transferring your credits earned online.
In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript, or resumé differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.
Some employers may express the concern that because you did your degree online, you may need to transition from an online education experience to in-person workplace experience. But in an age of Covid, that concern seems much diminished. The fact is that much employment these days is remote. And collaboration increasingly happens online over Zoom. Many employers will therefore view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.
If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will be less than ideal for you (though depending on your circumstances, it may also be the only viable option).
While there is much in traditional campus-based education that can be substituted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing that can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual in-person classroom setting. As you transition to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face in getting the most out of your online classes is overcoming this difference between “real reality” and “virtual reality.” Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.
The advantages of online classes are many. Above all, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete at your own pace and on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.
Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.