Open-Admissions Methodology

In order to be considered for our 2023 Best Online Colleges with Open Admissions ranking, schools needed to meet the following criteria:

• Offer at least five fully online bachelor's degrees
• At least 25% of the undergraduate student body enrolled online OR
• At least 300 undergraduate students enrolled online
• Offer an open admissions policy, as reported to the National Center for Education Statistics
• Offer a global tuition for online bachelor's students
• Have institutional accreditation

Schools were then ranked by undergraduate online enrollment for the most recent school year with available data to highlight the colleges that serve the most online learners.

Fully Online Status

Schools with programs that require some on-campus coursework were still considered for our rankings if the amount of on-campus work was limited to less than two weeks worth of requirements. This allows students to retain their current employment or other personal responsibilities.

Data Sources

Online enrollment and open admissions status were collected from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The NCES is the primary governmental entity for gathering and presenting data related to education. The NCES does not release data into downloadable formats until it has been approved, so the most available data will not be for the most recent academic year. Program data including available degrees and details about program coursework were collected from schools' official websites, reflecting data for the 2022-23 school year. Programmatic accreditation and profit status of schools were collected from official websites of the accreditation agencies or from the NCES.