About Us
The online education industry has undergone significant transformation since our journey began in 2004. In its infancy, earning a college degree online was a novel concept, championed primarily by trade schools and a handful of for-profit pioneers like the University of Phoenix. The original idea鈥攅mpowering individuals to advance their education later in life without disrupting their work or family commitments鈥攚as revolutionary. However, it quickly devolved into an abused marketing tool, targeting individuals with low chances of success and making promises that were often unattainable. Many students were left with the burden of substantial student debt and degrees of questionable value.
We founded OnlineU to bring greater transparency to this industry. Recognizing the lack of accessible, accurate tuition information, we began by manually collecting and verifying tuition data. Over time, we expanded to include student reviews, becoming the largest repository for feedback on online college degree programs. Additionally, we started publishing data on student salaries by college and program, enabling prospective students to make informed decisions about their potential return on investment. Today, OnlineU is the only publication that comprehensively combines all these insights in one place.
The online college landscape has changed dramatically since those early days. Traditional colleges now widely offer online degree programs, and online learning has become a recognized and respected mode of education. Yet, despite these advancements, students still face challenges in identifying programs that are high-quality, affordable, and impactful for their careers. If anything, the problem has grown more complex as the sheer number of choices can make it difficult to discern which program aligns best with a student’s goals.
At OnlineU, our mission remains steadfast: to provide students with the critical insights they need to make informed decisions about their future. Through data-driven analysis and transparent reporting, we continue to offer resources unavailable anywhere else. It is a mission that we continue to cherish even after 20 years. We look forward to helping you with your journey.
Sung Rhee
Editor in Chief
What We Do
We publish rankings across hundreds of online degree programs, have collected reviews from over 15,000 online students, and publish comprehensive guides and news articles to help students find the best degree for their aspirations. Our focus is on researching and sharing hard-to-find, impactful data. That's why we manually research the tuition for each specific degree for colleges in our rankings, collect reviews from actual graduates of online programs, and provide salary information of alumni of our ranked schools.
Our users also have the ability to get connected with any of our over 200 partner colleges to get detailed information on the degrees they are interested in directly from school representatives.
63,750
Students Matched Annually with Schools
37,096
Tuitions Manually Researched
2,328
Top Colleges Ranked
15,033
Reviews Collected from Online Students
Our Team
Editor in Chief
Sung Rhee
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Understanding the difficulties of obtaining a quality, affordable education is what inspired founder and CEO Sung Rhee to found Optimal in 2004. He saw a need to create sites dedicated to providing transparent, data-driven information to empower people to make better decisions for their education and careers. He knows prestige doesn't always translate to quality, and Sung doesn't want to see students get a raw deal.
Outside of work, Sung enjoys playing basketball and adding to his collection of Gundam figurines. A fun fact about Sung is that he was a cartoonist for The Harvard Crimson during his college years.
Sung has been featured in several publications, including
Director of Software Engineering
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Gustav Gennrich
Director of Software Engineering
Pronouns: He/Him/His
As the engineering lead, Gustav ensures Optimal’s products deliver value to users as quickly and seamlessly as possible. He was drawn to Optimal’s small team and mission of helping others obtain a strong educational foundation. Gustav holds two bachelor’s degrees from University of Washington, one in Computing and Software Systems and another in Applied and Computational Mathematical Sciences. In his free time, he enjoys working with his hands and taking care of his family. Some of his favorite projects include constructing an elevator for his workshop, renovating a barn, and building a covered playground for his sons.
Account Lead
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Alan Handford
Account Lead
Pronouns: He/Him/His
In his fifteen years at Optimal, Alan has developed strong relationships with Optimal's partners and employees alike. As the Account Lead, he works to support our partner colleges and bootcamps through campaign management and optimization. Alan is a graduate of Montana Tech of the University of Montana, with a BS in Liberal Studies. He was attracted to work in the education industry based on his belief in the virtue of free thought and personal improvement through discussion, dissent, and analysis. In his free time, Alan enjoys philosophical discussions - in his words, an honest and respectful conversation is about the best thing in the world. The meaning of the name Alan, swift and cheerful, is a true fit for Alan's character.
Outreach Specialist
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Adrian Ramirez
Outreach Specialist
Pronouns: He/Him/His
As an outreach specialist, Adrian enjoys getting the word out about our content and resources. His background in content writing and customer support have helped him understand the best ways to connect with relevant audiences, whether that be students, schools, or journalists. Adrian is passionate about the education industry because he gets to support people who are working towards a better version of themselves. Adrian previously served in the U.S. Navy, and in his free time, he's either reading and learning how to write books, or enjoying the outdoors through hiking and biking.
Editor
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Bailey Fletcher
Editor
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Bailey came to Optimal with experience as an academic editor, where she was helping authors around the world publish their manuscripts in prestigious journals. In her current role, Bailey edits our content for grammar, flow, and tone and manages our comprehensive style guide. She has always been passionate about the pursuit of higher education, especially for the sake of knowledge. Bailey graduated from University of Oregon with a degree in Folklore, which she studied due to her fascination with what is meaningful to people. Outside of work, Bailey enjoys studying Spanish and Italian, photographing wildlife, writing historical fiction, and singing/songwriting.
Data Researchers
We have a team of 60 data researchers that research over 40,000 college degrees each year.
Expert Contributing Authors
There's nothing more valuable than learning directly from an expert in their field. Our contributors provide real-world experience and perspectives in specialized areas of study and other topics important to students, like minimizing student loan debt. Their insight allows us to share trusted advice that can guide you in every step of the higher education process.
OnlineU in the News
As a driver of the college affordability and value conversation, OnlineU has been featured in many national and local media outlets, including .
“The (history) department is delighted by this honor, especially as the online track is only five years old.”
“It’s nice to be recognized nationally for providing nurses the opportunity to advance their degree.”
Professional Affiliations
Optimal strives to provide authoritative resources for students seeking high-quality and affordable online education programs through professional affiliations.
Optimal is proud to be an institutional member of the Online Learning Consortium (OLC). The OLC is a聽501(C)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in 1999 and comprises a collaborative community of leaders and innovators in the higher education space. Members are dedicated to advancing the OLC’s vision of setting the global standard for online and digital learning.
Advertising Policy
OnlineU makes money through inquiry generation. This means that schools pay us to appear in various advertising placements across our site (marked with the word "Advertisement or "Ad") and if a user clicks on an advertising school, they will have the option to submit a form requesting that a representative of the school contact them with more information. Submitting this form creates an inquiry, which the school pays us for, since inquiries can turn into future enrollments at these schools. Learn more about how we make money.
Editorial Policy
We ensure that our relationships with our advertising partners do not hinder our editorial integrity. Partner schools are always clearly labeled and we never show them any preferential treatment when developing our ranking lists.
All schools featured on our site are accredited by accrediting bodies recognized by the United States Department of Education. When creating our content, we always conduct extensive research in order to ensure that we provide accurate and current information about program offerings and tuition costs. This information comes directly from schools' official websites or representatives. We also source information from third-party research firms such as PayScale as well as government databases and agencies such as:
- .
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Optimal's policy is to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, citizenship, national origin, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. Optimal prohibits any such discrimination or harassment.