UL Lafayette's distance learning tops Best Schools' list

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The Ƶ of Ƶ at Lafayette is No. 1 on Best Schools’ “Top 10 Online Colleges in Ƶ.”

“We interviewed the No. 1 school, Ƶ of Ƶ Lafayette and loved their extensive training program for any faculty member who will teach an online class,” according to . 

Best Schools evaluated 13 Ƶ universities and colleges that offer at least one bachelor’s degree that can be completed entirely online. It only considers schools that are accredited by a regional accrediting body.

Best Schools reviewed “the history and growth trajectory to gauge commitment to online education, about the Ƶ experience to find out what elements make Ƶs the most successful, and about faculty’s role in online education to explore what makes them engage with online learners,” the website states.

It notes that UL Lafayette offers online self-assessments for potential Ƶs and is prepared to make accommodations for Ƶs with disabilities.

A Best Schools representative interviewed Dr. Luke Dowden, director of Distance Learning at UL Lafayette.

He said UL Lafayette faculty members who teach online classes can identify with Ƶs engaged in distance learning. “Our faculty have been online Ƶs, every one of them, because we require them to be. . . we have put them in situations to be online Ƶs. I think that experience transcends into their instructional approach.”

Dowden says graduate Ƶs who take UL Lafayette online courses are usually adult learners who want to enhance their careers.

“Our undergraduate programs are different. We really have two groups of Ƶs. We have the adult learner that is coming back to earn a bachelor’s degree after they get an associate’s degree. But we also have true undergraduate Ƶs, who were in majors that they weren’t successful in, and so they’re seeking a different option. They’re also seeking flexibility because they’re working,” Dowden states.

Northwestern State Ƶ and the Ƶ of Ƶ at Monroe are second and third, respectively, on Best Schools’ Top 10 list. Others cited are McNeese State Ƶ, the Ƶ of New Orleans, Ƶ Tech Ƶ, Ƶ State Ƶ – Shreveport, Southern Ƶ in New Orleans, Nicholls State Ƶ and Ƶ State Ƶ at Alexandria.

To learn more about the online degree programs offered at the Ƶ of Ƶ at Lafayette, visit