An online college in Montana can allow you to begin or further your career without traveling long distances to a physical classroom. Whether you're currently employed and looking to increase your earning potential, or if you want to start or change career paths, you can earn a degree online at times that are convenient for you.
Here's an overview of online colleges in Montana:
The state is eager to help more Montana residents complete additional education after high school. And to support that goal, investments have been made in increasing the availability of online education programs. For example, students in Montana may use MUS Online to pursue more than 80 online degrees. MUS Online offers associate, bachelor's, and master's programs from colleges throughout the state.
To learn about the 10 best online colleges in Montana as well as the most affordable ones, we encourage you to read on. We've also provided details about scholarships specifically for Montana students.
To help students find the school that can fulfill their needs, OnlineColleges.com has created multiple rankings of the best online colleges in Montana. It's important to know that only accredited schools were considered for our rankings — accreditation is just too important a factor to ignore. In Montana, the primary accreditation agency is the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). However, some of the schools on our page may also be accredited by other national or faith-based agencies. Visit our "What is College Accreditation?" page for details on why you should attend an accredited college, or check the Montana Office of the Commission of Higher Education to see which accrediting agencies are recognized in Montana.
Our rankings are designed to help students make more informed decisions about choosing an online college, and so we use very specific criteria to create them. Some of the data we use impacts all students, such as cost of in-state tuition or graduation rate, and some is specific to online students, such as the number of online programs offered or the amount of electronic library resources available. View the "What Makes a Good Online College?" section of our "About Us" page to learn why we chose these criteria to represent the online college experience and what they can tell prospective students about their options.
If you're considering online learning in Montana, it's crucial to research schools and programs ahead of time. To help make the process easier, we've created this ranking of the 10 best online colleges in Montana, using data pulled from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Our unique methodology ranked Montana's schools based on factors such as graduation rate, acceptance rate and retention rate.
Montana State University-Billings is part of the Montana State University system, yet offers its own programming and educational style. If you're considering online learning, check out MSU-Billings for online associate degree programs in topics such as accounting technology, business administration and human resource management. Alternately, you could pursue a Billings bachelor's degree in a discipline such as business administration or public relations, with multiple concentrations to choose from for the BAS or BSLS programs. Several master's and certificate programs in varied fields are also available.
The University of Montana-Western utilizes a unique learning method it calls "Experience One." In this model, students take exactly one course for 18 days (three hours per day,) then take a four-day break to refresh themselves before starting the next course. Four courses are taken in one semester, providing the same amount of credits as a traditional multi-class system, but students have the opportunity to focus entirely on one course at a time, rather than splitting their attention across four courses at the same time.
UM-Western's list of fully online degree programs may not be exhaustive as yet, but the university also provides several online, night and weekend courses that can add great flexibility to a student's schedule.
Great Falls College-MSU is a two-year community college affiliated with Montana State University. A few of the fully online two-year degree programs available for study at this school include:
Online students at Great Falls have full access to GFC MSU Weaver Library's electronic resources. They can also sign up for tutoring through the school's Academic Success Center, obtain technical support for the learning management system D2L Brightspace, or reach out to dedicated advisors for additional help if needed.
The University of Montana is one of the premier institutions of higher education in the state, featuring degree programs in numerous arts, science and technical fields. The school hosts researchers and academics from around the world at its gorgeous campus, located in Missoula, Montana.
UMT hosts its own online learning portal called UMOnline, through which students can research the school's many online degree options. From graduate to undergraduate degree programs, from minors to endorsements, there is certainly no shortage of choices at UMT. One of the more interesting features, however, are the RevUp programs. Created by a partnership between Montana's two-year colleges and the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, these programs are structured to help students learn the skills relevant to specific positions in the workforce.
Montana State University-Northern students who crave distance learning have several options available to them, from online associate degree programs all the way up to an online master's degree program. MSU-Northern's distance courses are taught using the Desire2Learn (D2L) virtual classroom, featuring programs such as:
MSU-Northern doesn't forget about you once you've graduated, either: each semester, the college offers a variety of workshops (both credit and noncredit) for professionals who are looking to continue or brush up on their credentials.
Montana Tech is the technical wing of the University of Montana. This school boasts the UMT name, but has a different focus: to provide technical education for students across a range of hands-on academic fields. To this end, Montana Tech has Digger Online: an online learning portal created specifically for the school, through which students can pursue a handful of degree programs and a variety of certificate programs.
If they're in need of assistance, Montana Tech's distance learners can talk to a "virtual mentor" — students who can help their peers with tips, resources and advice about distance learning in general and the school's learning platform, Moodle, in particular. Montana Tech also offers online tutoring for its students at no additional cost.
In 2017, Montana State University was the largest institution of higher education in the state of Montana, yet only half of its student body was made up of Montana residents. The school draws in students from out of state and, indeed, from all over the world, due in no small part to its robust online learning program. Through the university's online portal, Montana State Online, students can obtain online academic advising, technical support and many other student success and career resources.
In terms of variety of online degree programs, Montana State offers both graduate and undergraduate degree programs in fields such as nursing, agricultural education, liberal arts and family financial planning. Rounding out the school's online offerings are several graduate certificate programs, a principal/ superintendent licensure endorsement, and professional development courses in science for educators.
Helena College is a branch of the University of Montana that conveys its distance education courses to students in an active, easy way. Instructors use the school's One Button Studio — a specially set-up recording studio that can be used without any previous video production experience — to film their lecture, then can send the instruction to students anywhere on the planet. Helena College is only the second college in Montana to have such a recording studio, and the first one in the state to boast a recording studio with editing stations.
While Helena College offers few fully-online degree programs itself, they have a partnership with ed2go that allows them to offer a wide range of online certificate programs. These certificate programs can help teach students suitable skills for the workplaces of many different careers, especially in combination with Helena's One Button course deliveries.
Miles Community College is a two-year introductory school aiming to attract new high school graduates, adult learners, and those seeking entry into the workforce. Through online courses and interactive television (ITV), distance learners can work alongside their on-campus peers to earn an online Associate of Science (AS) or Associate of Arts (AA) degree, or equivalent certificates.
Miles CC is very friendly to transfer students who have completed some of their college coursework elsewhere. For one thing, the school offers credit for previous experience through a portfolio system, and for another, students with fewer than 30 semester hours of college credit can earn admission to the school regardless of academic standing.
The University of Great Falls was founded in 1932 and has since grown to become a prominent Catholic Providence-sponsored school offering several online degree programs. Several students both in- and out-of-state have stated their appreciation of the power of Great Falls' message and the quality of its instruction.
Great Falls distance learners can decide to pursue bachelor's degree programs in fields such as addictions counseling, psychology or sociology. Online associate degree programs (i.e. criminal justice or paralegal studies) are also available, as are multiple online graduate programs.
Montana does not offer any state-based loans to students, as the state prefers to focus on the Reach Higher Montana Scholarship programs. Students seeking financial aid assistance are encouraged to first exhaust scholarship and grant aid to help cover their cost of tuition, as these awards do not need to be repaid. However, if you are still in need of financial assistance for your college tuition and expenses, you may apply for federal and private loans to help bridge the gap. To qualify for federal loans, you will need to provide information about your family's financial situation by filling out the FAFSA.
Read more about how student loans work in the Ultimate Guide to Student Loans.
Montana is part of the well-known Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), which grants in-state tuition to students hailing from member states. Before you think you can't afford the tuition, be sure to check if your state is a member -- this even includes American territories such as Guam.
In addition, the Montana University System (MUS), which is comprised of 16 public universities and colleges and enrolls more than 44,000 students, maintains a handy website where out-of-state students (as well as Montana residents) can calculate their tuition costs. The results are broken down by universities, and there's even a link to scholarships.
For the fall semester of 2017, the state's flagship public university, the University of Montana at Missoula, enrolled 9,125 undergraduate resident students, 993 WUE students and 4,607 non-resident students, who enjoy both the academics and the great outdoors in Missoula (skiing, anyone?). Be sure to have a chat with your admissions counselor if you are planning to head to Montana for your college experience.
Choosing a career path depends on many factors, including personal interests and educational experience. However, it's also important that you choose a career path that has good opportunities for your future.
This section covers an in-depth analysis of the most needed jobs in Montana -- information that can help guide students to pursue pertinent subjects in college. With this data, Montana students can compare average salaries, employment projections and statewide employment for many of the hot jobs in Montana and make more informed decisions about their prospective career path.
| Employment | Employment Growth | Median High School Salary | Median Bachelor's Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500,010 | 8% | $27,762 | $41,208 |
*Industry rankings determined by annual mean wage, employment, projected growth and location quotient. Data is sourced from the BLS, 2019 dataset.
| Top Industries | Employment | Projected Growth | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pipeline transportation | 117,170 | 8% | $66,899 |
| Monetary authorities-central bank | 86,400 | 8% | $62,994 |
| Ambulatory healthcare services | 328,140 | 10% | $56,589 |
| Hospitals; state, local, and private | 363,620 | 10% | $55,434 |
| Oil and gas extraction | 173,110 | 8% | $61,076 |
| Utilities | 233,560 | 8% | $57,250 |
| Petroleum and coal products manufacturing | 160,020 | 8% | $60,243 |
| Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except copyrighted works) | 114,870 | 8% | $60,468 |
| Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles | 81,010 | 8% | $59,149 |
| Rail transportation | 171,140 | 8% | $59,086 |
While Montana has deep roots in traditional goods-based industries such as agriculture, mining, construction and petroleum refining, its economy is increasingly shifting toward service-based industries. These emerging industries include retail and tourism jobs, as well as skilled jobs in professional services, healthcare and finance. Both aspects are important parts of Montana's economy.
Montana's Richland and Roosevelt counties in the northeastern corner of the state are on the edge of the massive Bakken oil field. Some of the most in demand jobs in this region are in the areas of oil and gas extraction and petroleum products manufacturing, especially as new wells are added to the region. The Montana rail system, meanwhile, includes national operators BNSF and Union Pacific, as well as regional operator Montana Rail Link. The latter operates more than 900 miles of track in Montana and Idaho, creating ample opportunities for a range of financial and logistical careers in rail transportation.
Although Montana is the fourth-largest state in the U.S. by square miles, it had a population of just over 1 million residents in 2019. Those residents still require the same services as people living close together in New York City or Chicago, however. Many of the most high demand jobs in Montana are in the fields of healthcare and ambulatory healthcare services, especially in the state's rural areas, which have long been under-served in terms of their healthcare needs.
Montana has numerous health workforce initiatives in place designed to draw primary care clinicians and medical/ mental health professionals to under-served areas of the state. For instance, the Montana National Health Services Corps Student Loan Repayment Program offers loan repayment up to $15,000 per year for two years for qualified physician assistants, nurse practitioners, primary care nurses, physicians and many other related fields.
Below we'll take a closer look at some of the most in demand careers in Montana by narrowing down on two of its main metropolitan regions.
Rural Montanans are acutely aware of the state's need to add more skilled nursing and other healthcare workers, but shortages are felt in large metro areas such as Missoula as well. Skilled healthcare workers such as nurse practitioners, physical therapists and pharmacists are among the most high demand jobs in Missoula.
The U.S. Forest Service and other local organizations focused on the management, preservation and conservation of Montana's vast natural resources are also notable employers in the Missoula area. Qualified natural sciences managers looking to make an impact in these organizations may be able to find good job opportunities.
| Best Careers | Minimum Education | Average Salary | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse Practitioners | Master's degree | $103,000 | 80 |
| Lawyers | Doctoral or professional degree | $74,940 | 470 |
| Physical Therapists | Doctoral or professional degree | $78,230 | 160 |
| Pharmacists | Doctoral or professional degree | $94,910 | 190 |
| Natural Sciences Managers | Bachelor's degree | $102,330 | 90 |
*Career rankings determined by annual mean wage, employment, projected growth and location quotient. Data sourced from the BLS, 2019 dataset.
Like many cities in Big Sky Country, Great Falls has pressing need for registered nurses and physician assistants. In fact, Benefis Health System and Great Falls Clinic are the area's two leading private employers. Structural steel fabricator ADF International and pipeline fabricator Loenbro are major employers in Great Falls as well, offering avenues of employment for first-line supervisors and extraction workers. Lastly, Great Falls International Airport, Holman Aviation, Malmstrom Air Force Base and the Montana Air National Guard all create demand for trained aircraft mechanics and service technicians.
| Best Careers | Minimum Education | Average Salary | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers | High school diploma or equivalent | $66,190 | 150 |
| Registered Nurses | Bachelor's degree | $67,140 | N/A |
| Lawyers | Doctoral or professional degree | N/A | 190 |
| Physician Assistants | Master's degree | $114,120 | 60 |
| Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians | Postsecondary nondegree award | $59,500 | 150 |
*Career rankings determined by annual mean wage, employment, projected growth and location quotient. Data sourced from the BLS, 2019 dataset.