SUNY Canton Listed in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs
While continuing to excel in online education, the college makes marks with four-year Business degrees and bachelor’s programs for veterans.
SUNY Canton was listed in U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 Best Online Bachelor’s Programs and other online-specific categories.
“We are a leader in online education within the State University of New York and have been offering online bachelor’s degree programs for the last 16 years,” said SUNY Canton President Zvi Szafran. “Forward-thinking faculty, coupled with support from the college’s Online Learning department, have allowed the college to grow exponentially and provide our online student with exceptionally strong support services. This experience gave us an advantage while switching to a distance learning format in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”
The college tied for 116th on the list with SUNY Delhi, another College of Technology offering similar hands-on career-focused programs. The only other State University of New York college to make the list was the University at Buffalo.
SUNY Canton began offering its four-year Finance degree online in 2005. Since then, substantial investment in online education has led to 18 other online bachelor’s degrees. Prior to the pandemic, approximately 30 percent of the college’s population consisted of online students, and nearly every single student took at least one online class.
U.S. News’ latest round of rankings included exceptional four-year business offerings. SUNY Canton earned a spot on the new Best Online Bachelor’s Programs – Business list. The college was among six others to tie for a 19th place ranking. In addition to Finance, four-year business programs include Health Care Management, which is the largest and most popular major offered either online or in person, and Management, a flexible program designed to meet students’ career aspirations.
“SUNY Canton’s business degrees emphasize the applied portion of the college’s mission,” said Associate Professor William Myers, Ph.D., who serves as the business department chair. “Our educational approach allows students to learn by engaging in activities, including simulations, that emphasize the needs of an evolving marketplace.”
The department’s newest online programs include Esports Management and Agribusiness Management.
SUNY Canton also earned a spot on the U.S. News & World Report Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Veterans list. SUNY Canton appears 70th on the list and is the only SUNY college mentioned on the specific ranking.
More than 100 students identified as being veterans, active-duty military personnel, national guard members or military dependents in Fall 2020. About half are currently enrolled in completely online programs. Current and former military members can opt to have their military transcripts evaluated for leadership and management experience for advanced placement in select programs.
In September 2020, the college advanced four spots to secure the 19th position on the 2021 U.S. News & World Report’s Regional Colleges North category. Additionally, the college earned the 12th spot in “Best Value Regional Colleges – North,” 11th place in “Best Public Regional Colleges – North,” 10th in “Best for Veterans Regional Colleges – North.”
U.S. News uses a specific methodology to assess online colleges based on several categories, including engagement, services and technology and faculty credentials.
As Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs, SUNY Canton delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, management, and healthcare fields. It is home to the Center for Criminal Justice, Intelligence and Cybersecurity. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. As SUNY's leader in online education, SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 23 online degree programs. The SUNY Canton Kangaroos 15 traditional athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division III level as part of the North Atlantic Conference. SUNY Canton also features varsity esports and cheerleading.