College students flocking to online classes

November 13, 2008 11:48 AM Email| Comments (3)| Text size – +

By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff

This keeps up, and colleges can build a lot fewer classrooms.

More than one in five college students is taking at least one course online, a 13 percent increase in enrollment that far outpaced the growth of the overall student population, a new survey has found.

The sixth annual survey, considered the leading barometer of online enrollment, found that the number of students taking online courses more than doubled between 2002 and 2007, the year the survey targeted. Almost 4 million students now take courses online, about 84 percent of them undergraduates.

"We are still seeing double-digit growth," said study co-author Elaine Allen, research director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College. "Yet schools report they are competing for students as online options expand."

The survey of 2,500 colleges and universities was conducted by researchers at Babson College, the College Board, and the Sloan Consortium.

The current financial crisis is expected to further the trend.

"In these tough economic times, with unemployment up and higher costs for heating and transportation, we will inevitably see the appeal of online education grow," said Frank Mayadas, program director of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. "The survey results demonstrate that online education is increasingly playing an important role in higher education."

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3 comments so far...

The Web based courses do have their advantages. However, I found that I enjoyed the social aspect of attending class and discussing course material with the other students. I felt that was a big part of the learning experience that may not be available with Web based courses.

Posted by Cantab73 November 13, 08 05:00 PM

I'm writing from Northern Essex Community College which has campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence. According to our most recent statistics, over half of our students graduate having taken at least one course online. Online classes are allowing our students to progress more quickly, which is a good thing. For example, students, who are balancing work with school and might not be able to fit two evening courses into their schedule, can handle an evening classroom course and an online course. I'm working on my master's and I love the hybrid courses which combine online classes with classroom meetings.

Posted by Ernie Greenslade November 14, 08 04:19 PM

My first "on-line" course was more like a "televideo" course via VHS delivered to my work desk at my employer in 1991. My last gernontolgy course, which ended Dec 2009, surely required on-line homework submissions and blog responses along with classwork and presentations. The varied accountability methodology which tells the instructor that the student is attached to the syllabus may be varied, but I noticed that the textbook, without additional on-line research, would have made the learning experience dry, regional and lmited. I now know that the additional research fills in the basic and sometimes antiquated textbook contents. Testing remains a problem unless administered professionally.

Posted by Karmy January 27, 09 04:22 PM