
Students have the ability to earn their college degrees from wherever they choose due to the increased popularity on online college. College and universities throughout the country have been adding online degrees and programs to their curriculum – online colleges in PA are no exception. Technology has played a major role in the increased popularity of online college. For more information on the best online colleges and universities in the United States, check out our rankings .
Over the last couple of years, the value of an online degree has increased. This can be attributed to the fact that the overall popularity of online degrees has also increased. More colleges and universities are adding online degrees which gives students more options when considering online college. Most companies no longer discrimate against students who earned their degrees online. Check out our rankings for the best online colleges in Pennsylvania below.
List of Best Online Colleges in PA
Our team analyzed various components when ranking the best online colleges in Pennsylvania. Some of the components we looked at included retention rates, graduation rates, and percentage of students that are taking online classes. While those were all important components to finding the best online colleges in Pennsylvania, our team looked at numerous other components throughout the ranking process.
It was important for our team to rank the online portion of these colleges and universities. As online college has become more popular, more and more schools have added online programs. Our team picked factors that specifically looked at the online aspect of these colleges and universities. An example of this would be looking at the percentage of students who are enrolled in online courses at their respective colleges and universities.
Our rankings of the best online colleges in Pennsylvania only contains public 4-year universities or private 4-year, not-for-profit colleges. Another constraint we put on the rankings when gathering data was that these schools had to offer at least 2 completely online undergraduate degrees. Our rankings for the best online colleges in Pennsylvania are below.
Sort and Expand Tables
Feel free to sort the tables below based on the criteria most important to you. Expand the tables to see the full rankings for the best online colleges in Pennsylvania.
Best Online Colleges in Pennsylvania
Provided file /home/hesiexam/public_html/collegetotal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Complete-College-Rankings-PA.csv does not exist!
The Best of the Best
The above table is our findings on the best online colleges in Pennsylvania. For our complete rankings, our team looked at various factors ranging across three different categories. The three major categories that our factors were grouped into were academics, affordability, and an online college category. We gathered a large portion of the information from the National Center for Education and filled in missing information through a manual process. Every one of the above categories was assigned a different weight dependent on what our team thought was most significant for students looking to enroll in online college in Pennsylvania. Want to see which online colleges ranked best in the affordability or academics? Check out our rankings for the most affordable online colleges and best academic online colleges in Pennsylvania below.
These rankings should be used as a resource for students thinking about pursuing an online education. Students should use our list as a basis for conducting their own research. We assigned specific weights to various factors we considered important for online colleges – what we consider important may not be as important to you. Use this guide as a way to narrow down your search for the best online colleges in Pennsylvania. Read below for some more information on the top 5 online colleges in Pennsylvania from our rankings.
Temple University
Coming in at number one on our list of best online colleges in PA was Temple University. Temple is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is a public research university. Temple has a current enrollment of 39,740. Temple currently offers 6 online bachelors programs and 14 online masters programs. Some of the online masters programs they offer include a masters of business administration, occupational therapy, athletic training, and health policy and management.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 6
- Masters Programs Offered – 14
- Graduation Rate – 71%
- Retention Rate – 89%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 72%
- % Students Admitted- 59%
Drexel University
Drexel University is also located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel is a private research university that was founded by Anthony Drexel in 1891. The school has a current enrollment of 24,634. Drexel offers 13 online bachelors programs and 37 online masters programs – the most online masters programs offered by any online college in PA. Some of their online masters programs include biomedicine and business, engineering management, project management, computer science, and electrical engineering. Drexel was also on our list of best online colleges and universities in the United States.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 13
- Masters Programs Offered – 37
- Graduation Rate – 70%
- Retention Rate – 89%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 84%
- % Students Admitted- 77%
DeSales University
DeSales University is located in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. DeSales is a private catholic university and has a current enrollment of 3,438. The school currently offers 11 online bachelors programs and 21 online masters programs. Some of the various online bachelors programs they offer include business administration, criminal justice, early childhood and elementary education, and management. DeSales University was ranked number 51 on our list of best online colleges and universities in the United States.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 11
- Masters Programs Offered – 21
- Graduation Rate – 68%
- Retention Rate – 83%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 80%
- % Students Admitted- 79%
Duquesne University
Duquesne University is a private university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school is a catholic university with an enrollment of 9,274. The school currently offers 6 online bachelors programs and 8 online masters programs. Some of the online bachelors programs include computer systems technology and organizational leadership. Some of the online masters programs include masters of business administration, analytics and information management, health administration, and supply chain management.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 6
- Masters Programs Offered – 8
- Graduation Rate – 77%
- Retention Rate – 84%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 94%
- % Students Admitted- 72%
Saint Joseph’s University
Saint Joseph’s University is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school is a private Jesuit university and was founded in 1851. The school has a current enrollment of 7,589. Saint Joseph’s currently only offers 3 online bachelors programs, but 20 online masters programs. Some of the online masters programs offered include business administration, business intelligence, computer science, educational leadership, food marketing, and cyber security.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 3
- Masters Programs Offered – 20
- Graduation Rate – 80%
- Retention Rate – 89%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 94%
- % Students Admitted- 76%
Most Affordable Online Colleges in Pennsylvania
We decided that just having the complete ranking for online colleges in Pennsylvania was not enough. The rankings below are based solely off affordability factors. Some of the main factors we used when compiling this list included in-state tuition, out-of-state tuition, and the percentage of students who received any sort of financial aid. Check out the table below to see which schools offer the most affordable online programs in Pennsylvania.
Provided file /home/hesiexam/public_html/collegetotal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Affordability-Rankngs-PA.csv does not exist!
Best Academic Online Colleges in Pennsylvania
If academics are most important to you, check out our list of the best academic online colleges in Pennsylvania. As more schools add online programs and degrees, quality of online programs continues to increase. Traditional big name schools are adding more online programs to their curriculum and increasing the value of an online degree. The continuing increase for online degrees and programs will encourage more schools to add online offerings which is a big win for students around the country.
Provided file /home/hesiexam/public_html/collegetotal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Academic-Rankings-PA.csv does not exist!
Rankings
Our online college rankings for the state of Pennsylvania took a lot of different criteria into consideration. We only looked at 4-year public colleges or universities and 4-year private, not-for-profit colleges. We also only considered schools that offered at least 2 undergraduate online programs.
After compiling a list of colleges that met the above criteria, we looked at various factors that we felt were important when ranking online colleges. We looked at retention rates, graduation rates, tuition, financial aid, number of online course offerings, and other various online college factors.

Online College FAQS
According to our findings, the most affordable online college in PA is Keystone College. Keystone has an in-state tuition of $24,920 and has 98% of their students receiving some sort of financial aid. Geneva College is also very affordable with an in-state tuition of $26,730 but 97% of their students receiving some sort of financial aid.
PA is home to numerous online colleges and universities. Temple is the best online college in PA according to our findings. Drexel University, DeSales University, Duquesne University, and Saint Joseph’s University round out the top 5 online colleges in PA.
Temple University does offer online degrees. They were ranked as the best online college in PA. They offer 6 online bachelors degrees and 14 online masters degrees. Some of their online masters programs include business administration, occupational therapy, athletic training, and health policy and management.