Colleges in Michigan

A small private college in the city of Midland, Northwood University is home to approximately 3,500 students, giving the school a low student-faculty ratio of just 12:1. Befitting its smaller size, Northwood offers just one online degree program: a bachelor’s in business administration. However, this business program is robust, offering 11 distinct concentration options, including accounting, finance, entrepreneurship, and marketing. Northwood also offers innovative options like aftermarket management and automotive marketing and management, two programs focused on the auto industry. Unique among online colleges in Michigan, Northwood offers the first and only bachelor's program in franchising management in North America, training students to launch their own franchise concepts, take over existing franchises, or expand existing businesses. Northwood also offers its online students a minor in operations and supply chain management.

Based in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Lawrence Tech is a highly respected professional and technical college that also ranks among the top online schools in Michigan. Lawrence Tech offers online programs in the fields of architecture, engineering, and management. The school’s unique offerings include construction engineering management and civil engineering. All the school’s online degrees are master’s programs, most of which are 18-24 months long. Courses use a modular, asynchronous format in which new course material is offered weekly but there are no scheduled course meetings. Students collaborate frequently on assignments, and professors are available to answer questions during scheduled online office hours. Given the school’s professional focus, most programs prepare degree candidates for professional licensure or certification, and students learn alongside other professionals from the region, giving online students opportunities for local engagement and networking.

Grand Rapids is home to Grace Bible College, an evangelical institution that ranks as one of the top Christian online schools in Michigan. Enrolling approximately 900 students, the school offers a small selection of associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees online. Available in both secular and non-secular subjects, Grace’s undergraduate degrees include leadership and ministry, business, human services, and psychology, with all four programs available at both the associate and bachelor’s level. Students pursuing their bachelor’s can specialize in one of eight concentrations, including adult development and aging, human services, and women’s ministry. At the graduate level, Grace offers programs in ministry and organizational leadership. All online programs use a cohort format, which allows a cohesive group of students to move through the same course sequence together.

A prestigious technical college in the northwestern city of Houghton, Michigan Tech ranks as one of the top colleges in the Midwest and one of the best online schools in Michigan. Befitting its focus on technology, Michigan Tech offers several online graduate degrees at the forefront of science and engineering, include a particularly innovative graduate program in hybrid electric drive vehicle engineering designed in conjunction with General Motors. Other online degree options include integrated geospatial technology, medical informatics, and science education. Michigan Tech offers its programs primarily synchronously, with video conferencing and live streaming tools that allow students to interact with classmates and faculty. Some coursework may be offered asynchronously, but students must be available to attend class meetings at set times each week.

A Catholic college based in the city of Adrian, Siena Heights first began offering online degrees in 2004 and today it ranks as one of the top online colleges in Michigan. Siena Heights’ online student body numbers around 300, but that figure represents online learners from 37 U.S. states and Canada. The school also boasts the country’s second-highest graduation rate among online students at private schools. Siena Heights’ undergraduate degrees are all degree completion programs, requiring students to complete their lower division credits at another institution. The school’s bachelor’s programs include accounting, nursing, marketing, management, and professional communication. At the graduate level, Siena Heights focuses on leadership and management, with programs in healthcare leadership, organizational leadership, and higher education leadership.

Affiliated with both the Society of Jesus and the Religious Sisters of Mercy, Detroit Mercy is the largest Catholic college in Michigan, serving more than 4,900 students from its campus in northwest Detroit. The school is also home to several online programs at the graduate level, including health systems management, financial economics, computer information systems, and engineering product development. Detroit Mercy is large among religious colleges, but it offers small online classes with a student-faculty ratio of just 15:1. Many online programs use a cohort format, in which students move through the same sequence of courses together, building a close learning community. Classes are often held synchronously, with one or two virtual meetings scheduled each week, though most coursework is completed asynchronously.

One of the top online schools in Michigan, Davenport hosts online programs in a variety of fields, including business, technology, health professions, and arts and sciences. Available at the associate, bachelor’s, and master’s level, Davenport’s online offerings include unique options, such as sports management, cyber defense, and data analytics. The school’s college of business hosts a unique competency-based MBA, a highly self-directed online degree that allows professionals to gain credit for existing knowledge, rather than just course completion. Davenport offers its online courses both synchronously and asynchronously. While many degrees include a mixture of both styles, most programs tend toward one or the other. The school’s synchronous, "real-time virtual learning" courses feature set schedules and often allow online students to interact with classroom students.

Ferris State is home to more than a dozen professionally-focused online degrees at both the graduate and undergraduate level, with several unique programs, including automotive management, respiratory therapy, and dental hygiene. The school also offers a particularly uncommon bachelor’s program in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) engineering technology and energy management, one of just two such programs in the country. Most of the college’s bachelor’s degrees are completion programs, meaning students typically complete an associate degree at another college before transferring their credits to Ferris State. Given the hands-on, technical nature of most of the school’s online degrees, some require at least one campus residency to complete laboratory work or other experiential learning activities. The HVACR program, for example, requires one seven-day on-campus laboratory session, which is held during the summer.

One of the University of Michigan’s two satellite campuses, Flint ranks as another of the top online colleges in Michigan, offering over a dozen graduate, undergraduate, and doctoral degrees online. At the bachelor’s level, many of the college’s online degrees are completion programs that require students to fulfill their lower division credits at another institution, such as a community college. These bachelor’s completion programs include applied science, business administration, and nursing. The school also offers three bachelor’s degrees available fully online: substance use treatment and intervention, respiratory therapy, and accounting. At the graduate level, students choose from degrees mainly in health and education, with options such as literacy education or nurse anesthesia practice. Many of the graduate and doctoral programs use a blended format that offers online classwork along with required campus visits every four to six weeks.

A non-denominational Christian liberal arts school based in Grand Rapids, Cornerstone has added a host of new degree programs and significantly expanded its focus on online education over the past two decades. Today, Cornerstone ranks among the top Christian online colleges in Michigan, offering online degrees in the areas of business, counseling and psychology, human services, ministry, and education. Students can pursue associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in both religious and secular topics, such as global business, ministry leadership, and teaching English to speakers of other languages. Many of Cornerstone’s programs use an accelerated cohort model in which students take courses one at a time in concentrated blocks, allowing them to move through the curriculum sequence faster.

Based in Marquette, Northern Michigan serves around 8,000 students annually, making it the largest university in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Along with a comprehensive online program, Northern Michigan offers some of the lowest tuition rates in the state, making it one of the most affordable online schools in Michigan. Online students have several unique degree choices, with undergraduate offerings in laboratory medicine, loss prevention management, and applied workplace leadership. At the graduate level, programs tend toward education, with advanced degrees including learning disabilities, reading specialist, and American Indian education administration. The school also offers a unique hybrid program in clinical molecular genetics, which combines online and campus classes. Northern Michigan’s online students can take advantage of the state’s Educational Access Initiative, which provides high speed wireless internet service free of charge to rural areas of Michigan.

Located outside Detroit in the suburbs of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Oakland is a public college that serves more than 20,000 students. The school’s online offerings include both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, with programs available in a variety of subjects, including environmental health and safety, engineering management, and safety management. Most programs are highly flexible, offering full-time or part-time course options and multiple start dates throughout the year. Unlike most online colleges in Michigan, Oakland offers the same in-state tuition rate to out-of-state students enrolled in many programs, making the school an affordable choice regardless of state residency status. While this tuition discount doesn’t apply to all degrees, the school maintains an active list of eligible programs for out-of-state residents.

A public college based in Ypsilanti, Eastern Michigan offers more than a dozen undergraduate and graduate programs available fully online, focusing on the fields of science, nutrition, education, and business. Some of the school’s less conventional degree choices include dietetics, educational psychology, quality management, and social foundations of education. Eastern Michigan is unique among most online schools in Michigan in that it charges the same tuition rate regardless of state residency. Since most degrees can be completed without ever visiting campus, the college’s online programs are a practical, affordable choice for students around the country. However, some programs, particularly those with licensure components, can be subject to state-specific restrictions, so it’s important for out-of-state students to check with their local education board to determine their eligibility before applying.

A public college based in Detroit, Wayne State enrolls more than 20,000 students annually in both campus and distance courses, making it one of the largest online schools in Michigan. Students choose from several bachelor’s and master’s degrees available entirely online, and Wayne State is home to several uncommon programs, including theater and dance education, sports administration, and library and information science. Many degrees include a hybrid option that allows students to take core courses online and elective courses on campus. Wayne State provides several resources for online learners, including an online orientation program that introduces the school’s learning platform and other important information. Students can also work with online advisors who help determine course selections and field any other questions that arise.

The Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills is home to Rochester College, a Christian liberal arts school with a student body of around 1,000. Rochester is primarily an undergraduate institution, and its online programs are all bachelor’s degrees, with four choices available: early childhood studies, Christian ministry, strategic leadership, and an RN-BSN nursing program. Rochester offers its 120-credit degrees in an accelerated 16-month format (though this requires students to transfer in lower division credits). While there are no required on-campus courses, the nursing and education programs require a practicum or observational component to help students build professional experience. Degree candidates who reside outside of the Detroit area can typically arrange practicum experiences within their own communities or in nearby areas.

Located in Bay County north of Detroit, Delta College is one of the largest community colleges in the state. Its body of enrolled, credit-seeking students exceeds 10,000, with students pursuing associate degrees and certificates both on campus and online. Delta offers 150 degree and certificate programs, and 100 pre-approved transfer programs for students wishing to move onto a four-year college.

In 2016, Delta offered more than 900 courses entirely online. These courses represented degree and certificate paths in areas including management and business studies, among other exciting programs. Like at other online community colleges in Michigan, prior to starting coursework, students complete an online training course to prepare them for online learning. Delta offers online programs through the D2L learning platform.

Washtenaw Community College has served thousands of students in and around its home campus in Ann Arbor for more than 40 years. WCC emphasizes small class sizes, with an average of just 23 students in each course, maximizing individual student attention. For nontraditional students, WCC offers a unique seven-days-per-week course schedule, allowing students to take classes on the weekend. WCC is also one of the many online community colleges in Michigan offering fully online associate degree and certificate programs that can be completed anywhere.

Students at Washtenaw Community College can pursue online associate and certificate programs in areas such as information technology, business and entrepreneurial studies, and apprenticeship and occupational studies. WCC boasts low tuition rates, flexible scheduling, and easy transfers to four-year colleges.

Macomb Community College serves Macomb county in eastern Michigan, encompassing some of metropolitan Detroit. MCC serves thousands of students in various capacities each academic year, offering approximately 200 distinct degree and certificate programs. Macomb has also joined many other online community colleges in Michigan by offering a growing number of fully online degree and certificate options that can be completed anywhere, anytime.

Many of MCC's programs are available at least partially online, but there are some that require absolutely no campus presence, including programs in finance, business, accounting, and information technology. MCC provides a tutorial in online learning for students who may wish to test drive an online course prior to enrolling. Students can also take a self-assessment to determine if online learning at MCC is right for them.

Grand Rapids Community College hosts more than 25,000 students in a number of academic programs at campuses across western Michigan as well as online. Students pursuing a degree at one of the online community colleges in Michigan will find GRCC's course and program offerings to be affordable and flexible. While GRCC is working to grow its list of fully online offerings, students can currently earn an associate degree in computer information systems online, as well as a number of other programs that are offered in hybrid format.

GRCC takes pride in its small class sizes, with an average of 22.9 students in each class. Many of the students at GRCC ultimately end up transferring to four-year colleges, as credits earned at GRCC are honored by the Michigan Transfer Agreement.