Find the best online colleges in Indiana ranked by the academic success of faculty and alumni associated with the colleges and universities and their online degree programs.
The U.S. Department of Education facilitates nationwide academic standards for postsecondary education. The Council for Higher Education and the Department of Education approves organizations seeking accreditation.
Indiana’s government is focused on increasing additional funding and student support to reach its goal of increasing college-educated adults in the state to 60% of the population by 2025.
Academic institutions and programs must meet the standards of professional and academic quality to receive accreditation status. Online colleges and universities in Indiana can have several types of accreditation.
Regional accreditation is the highest and most reputable accreditation status. The Higher Learning Commission grants regional accreditation to Indiana colleges and universities.
Specialized accrediting organizations can accredit online and on-campus programs to receive program-specific accreditations. The Council for Higher Education and the Department of Education have a list of all programmatic accrediting agencies in Indiana and the U.S.
Indiana offers some of the most inexpensive online programs, with a total attendance cost of 4.99% less than the national average at a public 4-year institution.
While online students often prioritize tuition fees themselves, they often forget that they must also pay education-related expenses. Here are common factors that directly affect students’ tuition fees:
Distance learners may be required to pay for digital textbooks and other learning materials during their online coursework completion.
Tuition fees are more expensive for weekend and evening classes. Online students must check tuition rates before registering for courses.
Several online programs in Indiana require distance learners to comply with on-campus residency requirements or attendance, which may involve transportation and lodging expenses.
Since many online programs have practicum or internship requirements, distance learners must pay any fees associated with travel to the site location.
Some online academic programs have annual technology fees to finance their online learning management system and I.T. support.
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development reveals that the state’s employment growth rate is projected to be 7.1% by 2030, with an estimated 386,111 annual job openings.
Specifically, the fastest-growing occupations in Indiana include wind turbine service technicians, nurse practitioners, healthcare professionals, information security analysts, and solar photovoltaic installers.
As of 2022, the annual median salary in Indiana for all occupations is $50,440. However, completing a college degree in a traditional or online program will open up more opportunities for graduates to earn lucrative salaries.
For example, Indiana physicians and pathologists have annual median salaries of $341,360, while computer programmers can make $103,420 annually. Although the minimum requirement for these professions include an undergraduate degree, some employers prefer candidates with post-baccalaureate credentials or in-depth work experience.
Prospective students searching for both brick-and-mortar and online colleges in Indiana have many excellent options, including notable institutions like University of Notre Dame, Purdue University, and Butler University. Each boasts a high graduate rate, a wide variety of traditional and online degree programs, and numerous excellent undergraduate and graduate programs. The tuition and student population vary widely between these schools.
Indiana University Bloomington is the largest public university in Indiana. The state university is also noted for its high graduation rate, its large student population of roughly 40,000 students, and an in-state tuition rate just above the national average at $11,000.
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Additionally, students hoping to attend a school with a religious affiliation have nearly 30 options to choose from. Both traditional and online students at these schools can study areas like engineering, business, philosophy, religious studies, and law.
The state of Indiana offers loan forgiveness-based financial aid programs for health care workers who work in areas with labor shortages as well as for lawyers providing public legal aid. Additionally, graduates of Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law pursuing public interest law can apply for a special grant program that will help cover the cost of preparing and sitting for the bar exam.
With town names like Popcorn and Santa Claus, Indiana clearly has a quirky personality. Along with these unique towns, Indiana also hosts the famous Indianapolis 500 auto race; boasts a thriving art scene; and has been home to iconic celebrities, including Larry Bird, James Dean, and David Letterman.
Students wanting to experience all Indiana has to offer while studying have the option of attending one of Indiana’s more than 50 higher education institutes. Most offer both traditional and online degrees, as well as a full array of undergraduate programs and advanced degrees.
Explore Indiana’s more than 50 colleges and universities to find a program and future career path that’s right for you.
The following graph depicts the average salaries of top occupations in different industries in Indiana.
Source: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
83%
Student body
44K
Median SAT/ACT
1295/29
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
68%
Student body
19K
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
94%
Graduation
41%
Student body
9K
Tuition + fees
$10K
Graduation
29%
Student body
49K
Tuition + fees
$29K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
71%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1105/24
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
81%
Graduation
43%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1020/21
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
38%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/20
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
84%
Graduation
57%
Student body
23K
Median SAT/ACT
1095/22
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
73%
Graduation
64%
Student body
4K
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.