A Look at Online Education

No longer a novelty, online education in the United States has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. In fact, institutions of higher education report record online enrollment growth.

• Nearly 3.2 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2005 term, a substantial increase over the 2.3 million reported in 2004.
• The more than 800,000 additional online students is more than twice the number added in any previous year.

Who is getting an online education?
The population of online students is a close match to the general higher education student body, but the mix of schools at which they study is not.

• Online students, like the overall student body, are overwhelmingly undergraduates.  The proportion of graduate-level students is slightly higher in online education relative to the overall higher education population.
• Students pursuing an online education, especially undergraduates, are more likely to be studying at Associates institutions than are their contemporaries on campus.

What type of schools offer online education?
Public institutions of higher learning and the largest institutions have been at the forefront of online education.

• More than 96 percent of the very largest institutions (more than 15,000 total enrollments) have some online offerings, which is more than double the rate observed for the smallest institutions.

What is the academic perception of online education?
By an increasing margin, most Chief Academic Officers from colleges and universities believe that the quality of online education is “as good or better” to that of face-to-face learning. 

• In 2003, 57 percent of academic leaders rated the learning outcomes in online education as the same or superior to those in face-to-face.  That number is now 62 percent, a small but noteworthy increase.

What are some challenges facing online education?
Academic leaders have identified some consistent challenges that can limit the growth of online education.

• Nearly two-thirds of the academic leaders cite the need for more discipline on the part of online students.

• Faculty issues, both acceptance of online and the need for greater time and effort to teach online, are also important issues.

It’s important to note that the acceptance of an online degree by potential employers was not seen as a critical challenge.