UNL’s online Master of Business Administration program and its online graduate program in education each earned No. 2 national rankings in U.S. News & World Report’s newest list of Best Online Programs for Veterans.

The 2014 rankings, released May 20, are in their second year and are designed to help veterans identify high-quality online degree programs that suit their educational needs.

The online MBA program at UNL’s College of Business Administration improved from No. 3 in last year’s rankings, again leading all Big Ten universities in the category.

“This recognition for our online MBA demonstrates how the world is noticing the outstanding quality of this program,” said Donde Plowman, dean of the College of Business Administration. “Both our online and our on-campus MBA programs are consistently ranked among the best.”

UNL’s No. 2-ranked online graduate program in education also was the Big Ten’s highest ranked for veterans. Rutgers University was No. 12 and the University of Iowa was No. 13.

“We provide fully integrated, comprehensive degree programs taught by resident faculty who feel connected to both the programs and students,” said Marjorie Kostelnik, dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences. “We are glad that veterans are able to benefit from those high quality indicators.”

The university’s online graduate engineering program was No. 11 nationally and was the only school in the Big Ten to be ranked. UNL also was No. 27 among U.S. News’ best online bachelor’s programs for veterans.

To be ranked, U.S. News requires programs to belong to institutions that are certified for the G.I. Bill. They must also belong to schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program, or public institutions that charge in-state tuition for all out-of-state veterans.

Individual programs also had to be among U.S. News’ overall Best Online Programs 2014 rankings to be considered for a Best Online Programs for Veterans rank. UNL’s online MBA is No. 6 nationally; its online graduate engineering program is No. 41 and its online education program is No. 11.

The best-programs-for-veterans rankings measure the factors of affordability, accessibility and reputability in consideration of benefits available specifically to people with military experience.

In November, UNL was the No. 15-ranked national university in the magazine’s inaugural list of overall best colleges for veterans.

UNL is committed to serving service members transtitioning into civilian life through the flexibility of its online programs, said Marie Barber, the university’s executive director of online and distance education.

“Universities need to be proactive in preparing to serve this audience,” Barber said. “Many of these veterans will be returning to the university setting to become job-market ready. Our faculty and staff are dedicated to providing veterans with the very best educational opportunities at a value price and at the highest quality.”

More information about these and other University of Nebraska-Lincoln online programs can be found at online.unl.edu or at the University of Nebraska Online Worldwide website.