UofL’s online psychology program is rated No. 7 in the nation according to the latest results. Two other programs made the top 50. UofL also received several honors for Best Online Programs for U.S. veterans.Ěý

UofL’s fully  have consistently appeared in the U.S. News and World Report rankings for more than a decade, earning recognition as some of the best-ranked education opportunities for online students.Ěý

In 2026, the following degrees received Best Online Program honors:ĚýĚý

• Undergraduate Psychology – No. 7
• Undergraduate Business – No. 24
• Graduate ĚÇĐÄĘÓƵ (Best Online Programs for Veterans) – No. 43
• MBA (Best Online Programs for Veterans) – No. 54
• Graduate Business – No. 82
• Bachelor’s Degree (Best Online Programs for Veterans) – No. 83
• MBA – No. 93
• Bachelor’s Degree – No. 141  
• Graduate ĚÇĐÄĘÓƵ – No. 145 

Kelvin Thompson, UofL’s vice provost for online strategy and teaching innovation, highlighted the importance of quality online education in advancing lives and careers while offering the flexibility to balance life’s responsibilities.Ěý

“Providing accessible, high-quality online higher education is crucial for American social mobility,” Thompson said. “At UofL, our students come from all walks of life and in all manner of circumstances, including first generation, post-traditional and under-resourced students, and recognition from organizations like U.S. News & World Report reaffirms our commitment to excellence in everything we do.” 

UofL recently introduced several new online programs, including its first fully online PhD program, the online .Ěý

UofL’s online programs are designed for both traditional and non-traditional students, including adult learners, working professionals, military and degree-completer students, as well as anyone looking to earn a college credential through flexible, high-quality online education.Ěý

For more information about UofL’s online programs, visit .

Three UofL programs are rated in the top 21% in the country by U.S. News & World Report in their 2025 list of Best Online Programs. The rankings underscore UofL’s commitment to providing high-quality, flexible education options for nontraditional students and working professionals.Ěý

U.S. News & World Report rated UofL’s Bachelor of Science in Psychology at No. 9 in the country, placing it in the top 19%; Undergraduate Business Programs at No. 21 in the country, placing it in the top 10%; and MBA program at No. 75 in the country, placing it in the top 21%.

Several other UofL degrees also appear in the online program rankings including criminal justice, education, information technology and programs for veterans.  

Kelvin Thompson, vice provost for online strategy and teaching innovation at UofL’s Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning, highlighted the importance of online education in advancing lives and careers while offering the flexibility to balance life’s responsibilities.

“Providing accessible, high-quality online education is a vital component of our mission at the University of Louisville,” Thompson said. “Our students come from all walks of life and in all manner of circumstances – first generation, post-traditional, under-resourced, etc. – and recognition from organizations like U.S. News & World Report reaffirms our commitment to excellence in everything we do.” 

UofL’s online programs are designed to offer flexibility and accessibility while maintaining academic rigor. With dedicated faculty, a student success team with a range of student support services and online student scholarships, UofL continues to empower learners from diverse backgrounds to achieve their educational goals.Ěý

The online programs rankings are just one category where U.S. News and World Report recognizes UofL in the top tiers of higher education. For example, in 2024, UofL’s School of Medicine appeared multiple times on the Best Medical Schools lists, coming in at No. 21 for most diverse medical schools, No. 41 in most graduates practicing in rural areas and No. 65 in most graduates working in primary care.

For more information about UofL’s online programs, visit ĚýĚý

UofL Online Learning received a five-star rating and came in it at No. 53 in America’s Top Online Colleges 2025 listing. Of the four Kentucky universities on Newsweek’s list – UofL, University of Kentucky, Somerset Community College and Western Kentucky University – UofL came out with the highest ranking by just over 40 spots. UofL is the third-highest Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) school on the list following Stanford University and the University of Virginia.

This is the fourth annual list produced by Newsweek and Statista to recognize the top 250 colleges in the country that offer online undergraduate and graduate programs. The research was based on a survey of more than 10,000 individuals across the U.S. who participated in online courses to earn academic degrees or boost skills for their jobs. According to Newsweek, schools were ranked “based on organization, support, price, reputation, success, recommendation, practical relevance and overall satisfaction.”

The award is the latest in a long list of accolades for UofL Online Learning. For more than a decade, UofL has been recognized among the “Best Online Programs” by U.S. News & World Report, with two of the ranked online programs – business and psychology – cracking the top 20 nationally in 2024.

The university currently offers more than 70 programs completely online.

To meet their education needs, the University of Louisville  recently worked with Beam Suntory to develop “Leading with Spirit,” a professional development program customized to the needs of the company and its employees. The program is built on UofL’s existing distilled spirits business certificate, with content added in project management and leading change.  Beam Suntory employees will benefit from courses led by industry experts, and a compressed 16-week, non-credit curriculum, which can be completed regardless of previous educational background.

“Our employees are deeply knowledgeable in their specific areas of the business and want to apply their background to the nuances of the spirits industry,” said Nicki Clifton, senior HR director, Supply Chain at Beam Suntory. “We are proud to provide a learning opportunity to them through the UofL College of Business and are appreciative of this partnership which supports our employees and their development goals.”

A pilot cohort for Leading with Spirit was launched in October with 10 Beam Suntory employees. The new certificate program will add industry-specific leadership and strategic management education to the employees’ resumes in just a few months, a much faster and more cost-effective solution than traditional degree programs.

The UofL College of Business has expertise in developing customized, industry-specific programs such as the new certificate for Beam Suntory to meet the needs of Louisville industries.

“With the development of the graduate certificate programs in niche industries in Louisville such as distilled spirits, we can fine-tune the programs to fit the specific needs of the audience and company,” said Jeff Guan, interim dean of the UofL College of Business. “Creating a non-graduate-degree version of a program allows flexibility to meet the need where the need exists. In this case, it’s created a great partnership with Bean Suntory.”

The original is an online certificate offered to graduate students that provides credits toward completion of an MBA. Developed to meet the needs of Kentucky’s important distilled spirits industry, the certificate covers regulations, sales and distribution, operations and supply chain management, sustainability and brand marketing. It is believed to be the only distilled spirits business certificate in the U.S.

Virginia Denny, assistant dean for executive education in UofL’s College of Business, said programs like  Leading with Spirit are becoming more important for both professionals and corporations.

“We are no longer in a world where we can think about education ending with a bachelor’s, master’s or even a PhD degree. We are living in a world of 60 years of curriculum. Technology is transforming so rapidly, we have to be there for students and companies in a different way,” Denny said. “That’s where the non-credit, executive education programs come into play. That is our future – the ability to play in the space between credit and non-credit and responding to the needs of corporate clients.”

Beam Suntory is a global premium spirits company headquartered in New York. They produce Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbons in Kentucky, Hibiki Japanese whisky in Japan and more than 70 other spirits brands around the world. Its 5,700 employees are in more than 90 locations on five continents.

Eager for a change and short on funds, she decided to join the United States Navy and use the education benefits to earn a graduate degree in the field of information technology. This spring, after five years of taking classes while being an active duty service member (then a member of the Navy reserves) and working full time in a new career, she earned a master’s of science in computer science from the J.B. Speed School of Engineering.

“I knew I wanted something in the IT field,” she said. She was also laser-focused on avoiding student debt: “I did not want to spend money out of my own pocket to go back to school.” In addition, she wanted to attend a well-known, accredited public university that matched the military tuition assistance rate for graduate-level students, a rarity even today.

UofL met all her criteria.

In the Navy, Petty Officer McCormick worked in information warfare. After returning from a deployment to the Middle East aboard the U.S.S. Mesa Verde (LPD19), where she had the chance to travel to countries such as Israel and the United Arab Emirates, she began taking UofL online classes in 2014.Ěý

She is graduating debt-free, and never once set foot in Louisville — even taking classes while stationed in Seoul, South Korea. She landed a job with Oracle last year, before she graduated.

“This program helped me get a job,” she said. “When I got out of the military in July 2018, I had no professional experience working for an IT company. All I had was this education.”

While in school, she attended all her classes virtually, viewing her lectures from a camera set up in the back of the classroom. “I felt like I was taking on-campus courses,” she said, adding that she wanted the kind of rigorous coursework that is not always found in all-online degrees. “The workload was exactly the same as somebody who was sitting in the classroom.”

While stationed in Seoul, she said her professors graciously made accommodations for the 12- to 13-hour time difference. Professors were equally accommodating when a family emergency threatened to interrupt her education last fall, and the COVID-19 shift to all online classes that began in March was barely a blip on her radar screen.

Petty Officer McCormick said she hopes to participate in the December commencement exercises — the timing actually works out better for her — and hopes her family in Pittsburgh can join her in Louisville for the event. But if it doesn’t work out, that doesn’t change her feeling of accomplishment.

“At the end of the day, I’m proud of the degree that I hold,” she said.

Not surprisingly, she’s already looking into the possibility of taking more online UofL classes in the future, with an eye toward getting a cybersecurity certificate.