Online Sociology degrees earn top ten ranking

PUEBLO – Colorado State University-Pueblo was recently ranked among the nation’s top 10 Best Online Colleges for Sociology by Online Colleges.com.  OnlineColleges.com is a resource for people who want reliable information about online colleges and degree programs.

The lone institution included from Colorado, CSU-Pueblo’s sociology programs were ranked eighth. Students at CSU-Pueblo can earn two different online sociology degrees. As well as the standard Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree plan, CSU-Pueblo offers a second Bachelor of Arts program that studies sociology and criminology side by side. Both programs include training in cultural theory and research methods. Elective courses dominate the latter semesters of the degree plan in both programs. Students seeking sociology/criminology degrees are expected to replace some standard sociology electives with those that include criminal justice concepts.

Rankings are based on data from government agencies and other nationally recognized, primary sources, including The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the The United States Census Bureau. The Sociology rankings used data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the company’s multi-point methodology to determine which schools could be called the best online colleges for sociology.

“The selection of CSU-Pueblo’s Department of Sociology’s online program as eighth from among similar programs nationwide recognizes the dedication and successful collaboration between Extended Studies and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Sociology faculty to develop quality programming at an affordable cost,” said Dr. William B. Folkestad, dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Extended Studies academic advisor Elizabeth Grutt said she has helped thousands of students like Terry Hamilton earn bachelor’s degrees over the last 15 years while juggling work and family obligations.

Hamilton, who retired from the Colorado Department of Corrections as an associate warden, now is the CEO of the Fremont County Boys and Girls Club. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology with an emphasis in criminology in 2011.  He started as an officer with the Colorado Department of Corrections in 1990 and finished an associate’s degree in criminal justice during his second year on the job, but his career stalled out at the level of lieutenant. After completing his CSU-Pueblo degree, he was promoted to major, then manager, and finally associate warden.  

“At age 50 I decided to return for a bachelor’s degree both for personal pride and for career advancement,” he said. “CSU-Pueblo offered me the opportunity to take a variety of different classes in various formats. I attended the main campus in Pueblo, I took satellite courses offered in Canon City, I took weekend courses at satellite locations in Colorado Springs, and I finished up with a few on-line courses.”

For more information on CSU-Pueblo’s online programs, contact Grutt in the Office of Extended Studies at elizabeth.grutt@csupueblo.edu or 1-719-549-2849.