Two online graduate programs at UC Riverside’s Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering are once again among the 2026 U.S. News Best Online Programs.

The online master’s in information technology program was ranked No. 12 nationwide in the engineering category while the online master’s in engineering program was No. 27. Both represented improvements from the previous year when information technology was No. 17 and engineering was No. 28.

Released Tuesday, Jan. 27, the report is the 14th year of the online rankings by U.S. News & World Report, which evaluated more than 1,850 online bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in several categories.

Among public universities, UCR is No. 8 in information technology and No. 21 in online engineering.

This is the fourth year the programs were included in the U.S. News list, with both showing consistent year-over-year growth in the rankings. 

Schools were evaluated based on factors including student engagement, faculty credentials and training, expert opinions on the academic quality of programs, and services and technologies. Only programs that are predominantly online were eligible.