Great Basin College is the best four-year college in Nevada, according to Schools.com. Schools.com gathers information from the National Center for Education Statistics and other US Department of Education sources to rate both online and on-campus colleges throughout the country.
Great Basin College's main campus in Elko is a full residential facility. There are branch campuses in Battle Mountain, Winnemucca, Ely and Pahrump. GBC satellite centers are in more than another dozen communities within the college's service area.
GBC's service area encompasses 86,500 square miles, two time zones and ten of Nevada's 17 counties. A variety of innovative distance technologies used at GBC bring a college education within reach of over 147,000 residents of rural Nevada.
Affordability was the number one consideration in the listing. An analysis of affordability started with the raw cost of tuition and fees. No other Nevada college charged students less for basic admission than Great Basin College.
Even when GBC's fees were compared nationally, GBC posted the lowest tuition and fees of all the 1,649 schools considered in Schools.com's national rankings. That being the case, it is not surprising that GBC also came out on top in the state for keeping college debt at a manageable amount. GBC was number two in the state in the number of alumni who were able to pay off their student loans within three years of graduating.
GBC also got points for offering the state's largest online catalog. Over 81 percent of GBC students are actually getting their college degree online.
Schools.com rated the University of Nevada at the number two spot, based on the same evaluation criteria. The University of Nevada Las Vegas came in at the number three spot followed by Nevada State College and the University of Phoenix — in Nevada, DeVry University — Nevada, the Art Institute of Las Vegas and Sierra Nevada College.
Schools.com also posted a listing of the most popular degree programs in Nevada and the careers which are most in-demand.
Top college degree programs in the state — according to enrollment:
• Bachelor's degree in registered nursing, registered nurse
• Bachelor's degree in business administration and management
• Associate degree in electrical, electronic, communications engineering
• Associate degree in registered nursing
• Associate degree in accounting technology, technician and bookkeeping
• Master's degree in business administration and management
• Bachelor's degree in elementary education and teaching
• Bachelor's degree in criminal justice, law enforcement administration
Schools.com is a source for education information that connects current and prospective students with tools, resources, people and schools. The Internet source offers in-depth information, including faculty and working professional interviews, campus tours and national education news. Schools.com seeks to be a source for higher education tips and trends.
Great Basin College Winnemucca Director Lisa Costa-Campbell said the number one ranking from Schools.com is very welcome.
“I think it's wonderful news. Affordability and accessability is where Great Basin College excels, especially in rural Nevada where potential students are so spread out.”
Costa-Campbell said the progression of degree programs at GBC has been exciting. “We started with certificate and associate degree programs. When we began to roll out our bachelor's degree programs, we were elated.”
GBC students were no longer limited to two year programs; they could go on to receive a bachelor's degree and the employment opportunities it made possible, Costa-Campbell said. “Now we have so many more baccalaureate degrees; a whole spectrum of education is now available in our rural communities.”
Students in GBC's distance education programs come from all over Nevada — but not just from Nevada. “We even have students from outside the state and even outside the country,” Costa-Campbell said.
