2024 Top Online Colleges in Virginia

From its membership in a regional Electronic Campus to its embrace of dual enrollment online courses, Virginia takes distance education seriously. To help you narrow down your degree choices, we’ve produced a guide to the Commonwealth’s online scene. Here you’ll get inside intel on the most affordable online colleges, learn how to score out-of-state discounts, and see which schools to approach with caution. Don’t worry about remembering everything: At the end, we’ll summarize the most important resources we’ve mentioned.

Online Degrees in Virginia: What to Know

1. Start Your Search at the Southern Regional Education Board

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Electronic Campus has its own online program & course catalog, which includes multiple Virginia colleges. Two 2-year institutions — Northern Virginia Community College and Southwest Virginia Community College — and five universities — College of William and Mary, Old Dominion University, Regent University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech — place courses and/or degrees on the Electronic Campus. Programs with an “E” have equivalent in-state and out-of-state tuition rates.

2. Score Discounted Tuition at Out-of-State Schools

If you’re from Virginia and looking for an online degree not offered in the Commonwealth, don’t worry. You may still be able to find that degree outside the state at a low rate using the Academic Common Market/Electronic Campus, another SREB initiative.

The programs that pop up will be in one of the 14 other participating SREB states, and you’ll only get discounted tuition if no public college or university in Virginia offers a comparable program. You’ll apply through the college and must be a certified Virginia resident. Details are on the website.

3. Search for Online Courses at Virginia Community Colleges

The Commonwealth’s 23 community colleges display their online courses via the Virginia Community College System website. Click on “Advanced Search” to expand your options to hybrid, print-based programs and other distance delivery formats. It’s a bit harder to find full certificate and associate degree programs via the portal, but the course listings are a good starting point to see which colleges have classes in the areas of study you’re interested in.

Once you’re finished with an online associate you might be thinking of getting a bachelor’s. Many states have an online tool or webpage to check which credits will transfer. Virginia is no exception, providing an excellent tool at the Virginia Education Wizard. But it does one better by maintaining Guaranteed Admissions Agreements between VCCS schools and the state’s four-year universities. Get the associate degree, meet the GPA requirements for your chosen university, make sure you’ve taken the right credits, and you’re in.

4. Earn Online College Credits while They’re Free — in High School

Virtual Virginia is the state’s online education portal for high school students, who can use it to study languages or take courses not available at their school. But one of its biggest perks is its catalog of two dozen online Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which are free to Early College Scholars program participants. (Hint: Qualifying for the program involves earning a 3.0 or better). Take a class, score well on the AP exam, and receive not only high school credit but college credit as well.

Keep in mind, too, that several Virginia colleges have their own dual credit programs. Liberty University’s EDGE Dual Enrollment Program, for instance, gives juniors and seniors half a credit for high school and three credits toward college — either at Liberty or elsewhere — at a much cheaper rate than undergraduate residents pay.

5. Virginia Colleges Are Strong in IT and Engineering

Virginia is a tech hub, so many colleges prepare graduates for engineering and cyber security jobs with in-state defense contractors. It’s no surprise, then, to find that U.S. News & World Report ranks several Virginia schools highly in its categories for Best Online Graduate Computer IT Programs (e.g. Virginia Tech, George Mason, and Old Dominion) and Best Online Graduate Engineering Programs (e.g. UVA and Virginia Tech).

Affordable Online Schools in Virginia

There’s no shortage of online degrees in Virginia, but we think you should start your search with the school below. Why? It appears on both our “Top Online” and “Most Affordable” lists, which means it’s ranked highly on measures of quality, flexibility, price and financial aid availability. (Here’s our easy-to-read methodology.) You dive further into stats on the government-run College Scorecard, which details graduation rate, average debt and other student success indicators.

• Old Dominion University

  Quality counts. In 2018, U.S. News & World Report ranked Old Dominion’s online programs in the top 100 nationally in six educational categories; Online Graduate Computer IT Programs and Online Graduate Engineering Programs were particularly strong. You can learn more about its 100+ online programs on ODU Online. The university’s financial aid department makes it clear that online students qualify for scholarships, grants and loans by giving distance learners their own financial aid webpage.

  Old Dominion offers a couple of cost-saving initiatives to be aware of. For one, residents of SREB states can take certain STEM programs at the in-state rate via Electronic Campus. Also, thanks to ODU’s participation in the Navy College Program Distance Learning Partnership (NCPDLP), Navy personnel can take courses via CD-ROM at a lower tuition rate while also skipping several fees assessed to online students. The school has a host of other partnerships and funding pathways designed to make college accessible and affordable for both active-duty military and veterans. Plus, many military members serving in the state qualify for in-state tuition.

Online Schools in Virginia with Accreditation & Quality Concerns

Many substandard Virginia colleges use the state’s proximity to Washington, D.C. to attract eager international students, but American students also need to scrutinize schools before enrolling in an online degree program. The first rule is that a school should be fully accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Regional accreditation is generally superior to national accreditation because it’s easier to transfer credits from schools who have the former. But both types qualify schools to distribute federal financial aid to students.

• The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is the regional accreditor for colleges and universities in Virginia. Click on the state map to find Commission-accredited schools in Virginia, then scan the page for the college you’re interested in and make sure there are no public sanctions. A warning is potentially serious; probation more so. (Schools as highly regarded as the University of North Carolina have been on probation, so it’s not necessarily a deal breaker.)
• If your chosen college isn’t in the SACS directory, it’s not regionally accredited. Move to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) Database to find all schools with regional or national accreditation.

Many religious colleges in Virginia are exempt from state certification and choose not to seek accreditation. Below are several other Virginia schools with online programs that have accreditation issues.

• American College of Commerce and Technology

  In August 2016, the American College of Commerce and Technology’s accreditor, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), threatened to pull its accreditation due to multiple issues. Primary among them was the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia’s (SCHEV) “decision to revoke the campus’s certificate to operate due to the institution’s failure to comply with SCHEV requirements, raising critical questions about the institution’s ability to continue to operate.” The school had until November 2016 to convince the Council that it deserves to continue operating. As of then, it continued to be authorized to operate by SCHEV. The college will probably outlast its accreditor, whose regulatory status the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is moving to pull.

• American National University

  Students at ANU’s six Virginia campuses have access to the university’s eLearning platform. Although these for-profit schools themselves don’t necessarily have quality concerns, their accreditor does. ACICS is in the process of losing its federal recognition, which would leave its schools unaccredited and those students without access to federal financial aid. ACICS appealed the decision to the ED in October 2016, which should give schools like ANU time to seek accreditation elsewhere, thanks to a SCHEV contingency plan.

• Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

  This Richmond school with an online RN to BSN program is accredited by ACICS, whose recognition as an approved accreditor the ED moved to revoke in 2016. ACICS appealed the decision in October 2016. While ACICS awaits a final verdict, its schools remain fully accredited, and SCHEV has given them additional time to transition to another accreditor.

• Everest College

  Everest College’s for-profit campuses at Chesapeake and Woodbridge are also accredited by ACICS, but unlike some other schools on this list, it has a complex history. Everest was owned by Corinthian Colleges in 2015 when the company went out of business due to fraudulent graduation and job placement numbers that drew ED action. In 2016 the Associated Press found that the new owner was following in its predecessor’s footsteps. In May of that year, the ED placed a new independent monitor in charge of overseeing the college’s campuses. The Chesapeake and Woodbridge campuses are under a show-cause directive from ACICS (the last stage before their accreditation is revoked) because the “unaudited financial reports for the twelve months ended June 30, 2016…do not evidence financial stability.” As of October 2016, Everest was attempting to switch to another national accreditor, the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC).

• Fortis College

  The ED placed the for-profit chain’s Norfolk campus on “heightened cash monitoring” in 2015 because of concerns with its “financial responsibility” related to federal aid.

• IGlobal University

  IGlobal University is accredited by ACICS, whose recognition as an approved accreditor the ED moved to revoke in 2016. ACICS appealed the decision in October 2016. While ACICS awaits a final verdict, its schools remain fully accredited, and SCHEV has given them additional time to transition to another accreditor.

• Miller-Motte Technical College

  For-profit Miller-Motte’s Roanoke and Lynchburg campuses, as well as its online outfit, are accredited by ACICS, whose recognition as an approved accreditor the ED moved to revoke in 2016. ACICS appealed the decision in October 2016. While ACICS awaits a final verdict, its schools remain fully accredited, and SCHEV has given them additional time to transition to another accreditor. The school’s Lynchburg campus is under further scrutiny from the ED, which placed it on “heightened cash monitoring” in 2015 because of concerns with its “financial responsibility” related to federal aid.

• Sentara College of Health Sciences

  Sentara, which offers online courses but not whole degrees, is accredited by ACICS, whose recognition as an approved accreditor the ED moved to revoke in 2016. ACICS appealed the decision in October 2016. While ACICS awaits a final verdict, its schools remain fully accredited, and SCHEV has given them additional time to transition to another accreditor.

• Stratford University

  Stratford, a for-profit college with an online presence to complement it locations across the state, is accredited by ACICS, whose recognition as an approved accreditor the ED moved to revoke in 2016. ACICS appealed the decision in October 2016. While ACICS awaits a final verdict, its schools remain fully accredited, and SCHEV has given them additional time to transition to another accreditor.

  The school also held an abysmal graduation rate in 2016 of just 12 percent (compared to a national average of 42 percent). While that’s comparable to several of the state’s community colleges, one might expect more from a university with one of the highest tuitions in the state.

• University of North America

  UoNA, which offers online courses but not whole degrees, is accredited by ACICS, whose recognition as an approved accreditor the ED moved to revoke in 2016. ACICS appealed the decision in October 2016. While ACICS awaits a final verdict, its schools remain fully accredited, and SCHEV has given them additional time to transition to another accreditor.

• University of the Potomac

  The for-profit school sports an unattractive graduation rate in 2016 of 14 percent. While it shares that rate with a few of the state’s community colleges, its tuition is roughly three times higher.

• Virginia College

  Virginia College is a for-profit whose Richmond campus and online campus are accredited by ACICS, whose recognition as an approved accreditor the ED moved to revoke in 2016. ACICS appealed the decision in October 2016. While ACICS awaits a final verdict, its schools remain fully accredited, and SCHEV has given them additional time to transition to another accreditor.

• Virginia International University

  Virginia International University is accredited by ACICS, whose recognition as an approved accreditor the ED moved to revoke in 2016. ACICS appealed the decision in October 2016. While ACICS awaits a final verdict, its schools remain fully accredited, and SCHEV has given them additional time to transition to another accreditor.

Virginia Online Education Resources

Accreditation

• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC): SACS is the regional accrediting body for Virginia’s degree-granting colleges and universities.

Distance Learning Resources

• State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV): SCHEV keeps track of institutions operating in the state, and its website has loads of resources. It publishes information on the Academic Common Market, features a degree search tool that can help you find any program in the state, and provides links to more than a dozen online degree completion programs in the state.
• Virginia Education Wizard: The Virginia Education Wizard guides students and professionals alike in assessing career goals and finding education or workforce training to get them there. Two of its resources are particularly useful: a Transfer Planning Tool and a filterable search tool of all programs administered by Virginia colleges — public and private.
• Virtual Virginia: Virtual Virginia offers online courses to the state’s high schoolers, including AP classes that can lead to college credit.

Online Degree & Course Catalogs

• Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Electronic Campus: SREB lists online degree programs or courses offered by participating institutions throughout the South. The website also answers questions related to financial aid and credit transfers, and can tell you which out-of-state programs qualify for in-state tuition benefits or a discounted rate.
• Virginia Community College System: When you’re done searching for every available online course from the state’s two-year colleges, look up the tuition and fees (including e-learning rates) and read individual transfer agreements between VCCS and four-year colleges in the Commonwealth.