Northwestern State University’s online bachelor’s programs in accounting and psychology and master’s program in English have been ranked among the top 10 most affordable programs in the country.
The bachelor’s programs were recognized by the website affordableschools.net. The master’s in English was ranked by bestmastersdegrees.com. NSU ranked as the ninth most affordable program in accounting and psychology and the 10th most affordable graduate program in English.
Rankings for the affordableschools.net list were compiled with data from NCES (National Center for Education Statistics), a bureau of the Dept. of Education. The site examined institutions that grant bachelor’s degrees in accounting via distance education, sorted them by increasing average annual net price and manually selected the 20 most affordable colleges with active online degree programs.
“This national ranking indicates our accounting program provides an outstanding education at a low cost for students,” said Coordinator of Accounting Dr. Nat Briscoe. “We are mindful of the need to reduce the financial burden on students while working to
prepare them to enter the workforce after earning their degree. Our discussions with employers indicate we are accomplishing that objective.”
Briscoe said the program is designed for those students who want a strong education in accounting specific areas as well as a general education in all areas of business. The program requires a minimum of 120 credits for completion. The Bachelor of Science in Accounting program prepares diverse career paths by offering courses in financial and managerial accounting, cost accounting, tax, audit, accounting information systems and governmental accounting.
Psychology majors receive a broad science-based education about the ways in which psychology explores and explains the human mind and behavior, with emphasis on current theory, research and applications, according to Dr. Susan Thorson, head of the Department of Psychology. Students develop mastery and integration of vocabulary and theory, as well as critical thinking and analytic skills, through quality educational experiences enriched with technology and diversity. The program includes optional concentrations in substance abuse counseling and prevention specialist.
“While our students have long known about the excellent value represented by our online bachelors degree in psychology, it is gratifying to receive this national recognition,” said Instructor of Psychology and Undergraduate Program Coordinator Terry Isbell. “It reflects the quality instruction provided by our dedicated faculty.”
The graduate program in English offers five areas of concentration: folklife/Southern culture, generalist, literature, teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) and writing and linguistics.
“National recognition is important and useful for our many constituents: Prospective students considering our M.A. in English program, our dedicated department faculty and staff, the university, working hard to meet and even exceed its institutional benchmarks, and our community stakeholders—alumni, businesses, and local, state and national leaders—who provide the resources needed to establish and improve our educational offerings,” said Dr. Jim Mischler, head of the Department of English, Foreign Languages and Cultural Studies. “We thank bestmastersprograms.com for this high praise of our work.”
The rankings for accounting and psychology are available at affordableschools.net. Information on the master’s program in English’s ranking is at bestmastersdegrees.com/top/affordable-online-masters-english-degree. You can learn about NSU’s accounting degree program at business.nsula.edu/accounting. Information on the psychology program is at psychology.nsula.edu. To find out more about the graduate program in English, go to langcomm.nsula.edu/graduate-studies.