Kaplan University has added to the growing pile of data and anecdotes that suggest that soaring gas prices and a sinking economy are fueling a boom in distance education. Many institutions, as the Chronicle reported last month, say their online summer enrollments have jumped significantly, compared with last summer’s, and that fuel prices are a key factor in the increase.
The university, part of Kaplan Higher Education Corporation, which serves tens of thousands of students both on campuses and online, just released the results of a survey of about 3,500 online students. Sixty-six percent of them reported that the economy played a role in their decision to go back to school. Thirty-nine percent of them said the main reason they choose an online university was to save money on gas. Nearly a quarter of the survey respondents estimated that they were saving between $500 and $999 by not driving to class. —Josh Fischman
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