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January 26, 2010, 12:00 PM ET

Colleges See 17 Percent Increase in Online Enrollment

Colleges saw a 17 percent increase in online enrollment, with more than one in four students taking at least one online course in the fall of 2008, according to the findings of an annual survey published on Tuesday by the Sloan Consortium.

The growth rate eclipsed last year's 12-percent increase and dwarfed the 1.2 percent growth rate of the overall higher-education student population. The report, which has become a widely cited benchmark of distance learning, found a total of more than 4.6-million online students overall. That's up from about 3.9 million the previous year.

Despite this surge, the data suggest that not enough institutions have taken online education into account as they conduct planning around issues like how to deal with budget cuts and space shortages, says A. Frank Mayadas, a special adviser to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

"They have to wake up and begin to think about this as a strategic item," Mr. Mayadas says.

The report found that public institutions are by far the most likely to believe that online education is key to their long-term strategy. That reflects the striking demand for online couses at institutions like the University of Central Florida, where more than half of the 53,500 students take at least one online course each year.

The university's online efforts stem from its mission of providing access and its budget realities. All new construction money is "basically frozen at the state level," says Tom Cavanagh, assistant vice president for distributed learning.

"For us to grow, it’s going to be online until that money is freed up again," he says.

The Sloan report is based on data collected from more than 2,500 colleges and universities by the Babson Survey Research Group and the College Board. Among the study's other key findings:

* Bad economic times, which traditionally drive more people back to school, are having a particularly strong impact on demand for online courses. Seventy-three percent of institutions report increased demand for existing online courses, compared with 54 percent for face-to-face. Sixty-six percent report increased demand for new online courses. And students are clamoring for distance education at colleges that don't offer it; 45 percent of institutions in that category report growing demand for new online courses and programs.

* Fewer than one-third of chief academic officers think that their faculty members accept the "value and legitimacy" of online education, a perception that hasn't change much in the past six years. (Another survey, released in 2009, also reflected broad faculty suspicion about the quality of online courses.)

* More than two-thirds of institutions have a contingency plan to deal with a disruption from the H1N1 flu, and substituting online for face-to-face classes is an element in 67 percent of those plans.

* The overwhelming majority of the 4.6-million online students — over 82 percent — are undergraduates.

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Comments

1. aborray - January 26, 2010 at 04:24 pm

Survey on increase in ON-LINE learning. And On-line education....

2. 11272784 - January 26, 2010 at 06:06 pm

Faculty and institutions are slowly realizing that the future is online, and so is their market. Teachers who want to have a future in higher education need to learn how to teach online; those who don't will be looking for work a few years down the road.

3. gmacipc - January 26, 2010 at 11:26 pm

The "Sage on the Stage" does not want the open access to learning on-line provides. If they doubt the quality of the education why don't they improve it?

4. arrive2__net - January 27, 2010 at 01:34 am

The Sloan Survey data shows that the number of colleges that regard online ed as a critical part of their strategy seems to be reaching a plateau. I think this indicates that the growth of online will ultimately be limited to students for whom it is really the medium of choice. I believe that for many students, the face-to-face model will continue to be prefered, so both markets will exist side-by-side. It seems to me that online ed has put pressure to improve on face-to-face instruction, and this competition has had a postive effect on face-to-face. Susan Patrick, a spokeperson for the Dept of Ed recently said, in an interview with Education Week, that the K12 evidence suggests that online ed works better for some kids because of the one-to-one nature of the online education process. For me, that means that there is less social distraction in online education, and the dominance of content over social setting stimulates some students to do better. I think this same effect is likely to occur in higher ed as well. Since I have a website on online grad schools, I was surprised to learn that 82% of online students are undergrads, and only 18% are grad students. Keep growing online ed!
Bernard Schuster

5. raymondmartyrose - January 27, 2010 at 10:52 am

Bernard: Susan Patrick is no longer with ED. She has been the CEO for the International Association of K-12 Online Learning for a number of years.

RE your comment that online will "ultimately be limited to students for whom it is the medium of choice," isn't that the case now, and that the growth reported in the survey not only reflects the increase in online programs but shows students are voting with their enrollment in those programs?

BTW the number of students taking online courses in K-12 continues to grow at rates out pacing that in higher education. So, expect that more students will have had extensive positive quality online experiences before they enroll in higher education. And, you are aware that states have made an online education experience a high school graduation requirement. I thing that's one explanation for the large number of online undergrads, after all, virtual high schools have been in existence for well over a decade now.
Ray Rose

6. cajunjay - January 27, 2010 at 06:11 pm

We asked our MBA students about increasing online opportunities and got a resounding "no thanks." The main comment was that if they had wanted to attend online classes there were already plenty of options for them to do so in the marketplace.

7. blankets - January 27, 2010 at 10:44 pm

8. acctteach - January 28, 2010 at 08:22 am

Online education is the only option for some people who live in rural areas. It is also great for non-traditional students with families who are working and cannot afford the time off to attend classes. I completed almost half my undergrad degrees online and my graduate degree is all online. I couldn't have done it any other way.

9. jgoodwin - January 28, 2010 at 09:22 am

In my opinion, it is important for students to have a variety of options in the delivery of educational services. On-line and face-to-face are complimentary.

10. coloradodan - January 29, 2010 at 12:06 pm

HYBRID online/in-class education could be the real money saver. The sage on the stage doesn't need to have a large room for 150 -700 students. The occasional question can be taken via microphone...online. He or she could just as well film/stream live the lecture and save the classroom space for the sections and any other classes where content, teaching style, or direct human interaction is more beneficial.

(and yes online NOT on-line...email NOT e-mail...grammar changes folks, keep up)

11. davidvictor - February 05, 2010 at 05:03 pm

The internet has become an extremely good place to learn. Classes from Universities are a great way for people to improve their lives while working a full time job thousands of miles away from where the class is taking place. The internet also provides information on everything from diet and exercise to medical conditions. You can use it to search for reasons why your 3 year old is sick in the middle of the night and find out what the best medicine is when you can't ask a doctor or pharmacist. The web is changing the way we live and learn and for the most part it is making things better for us.