UC Riverside has risen 18 spots in U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings of best online engineering programs in the country.

In the 2019 rankings released last week, the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering’s online program was ranked No. 33, compared to No. 51 last year. The college saw the sixth-highest jump of any school in the rankings.

The online engineering master’s program began in fall 2013 with one specialization — bioengineering. It has since expanded to seven specializations: bioengineering, chemical engineering, environmental engineering, materials at the nanoscale, mechanical engineering, and data science.

Students can gain their master’s degree in as little as 13 months, or four quarters, instead of the two-plus years typical for most graduate degrees.

The program makes use of multimedia materials such as content management systems, video conferencing, and chat platforms, which allow students to learn at their convenience.

U.S. News and World Report looked at five categories in determining its rankings: engagement, faculty credentials and training, expert opinion, services and technologies, and student excellence.