A new report ranks the Utah teaching college’s program as No. 1 in the nation but laments the lack of more high quality options in the state. The National Council on Teacher Quality named Western Governors University, an online college based in Utah as having the top undergraduate preparation program in the country for those going into middle and high school education.
The online guide is intended to help prospective students make informed decisions about how to invest in their education.
To determine the rankings accreditations, the cost of tuition and books, student-to-faculty ratios, graduation and retention rates, and the rate at which students repay their college loans on time, is examined. Statistics are gathered from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, the primary federal entity for collecting and presenting data related to education.
The report covered more than 1,600 programs at more than 800 institutions nationwide, mostly traditional schools.
The University of Utah’s undergraduate elementary teaching program was ranked 47th and various programs at Utah Valley University, Utah State University, Brigham Young University and Dixie State University also ranked among the top few hundred programs.
Three Utah undergraduate programs ranked in the bottom half nationally, including secondary programs at Weber State and BYU, and the elementary program at Dixie State.
The report evaluated 15 Utah programs at eight institutions. The report did not include Westminster College.
