The report Going the Distance: Online Education in the
United States found that current college students are no longer primarily going
to school full-time or living on campus. The study reported that more than 1.6
million students in the United States took at least one online class in 2010. That
has some colleges and university focused on providing online degrees.
Ohio’s Clark State Community College, Springfield, experienced
a 72% rise in the number of students taking online classes over the last
five years. The summer online enrollment at Miami University, Oxford, grew 26%
in 2012 while its overall summer enrollment declined, and the eLearning OHIO
program at Ohio University, Athens, saw an 800-student increase in the fall.
“It’s getting harder and harder to support a program
that is just on campus. There’s a lot more expense to it. And we see online as
a way of helping diversify our revenue,” Andy Runyan, associate vice president
of extended learning and dean of graduate studies, Cedarville University,
Cedarville, OH, told eCampus News.
Cedarville is working on a new online master’s in business administration
degree and already offers online classes for undergraduate, graduate, and high
school students.
In addition, Jonathan Robe, research fellow at the
Center for College Affordability and Productivity, reported that many colleges
have yet to find a way to lower tuition for their online courses, other than
the money students save by not living or commuting to campus.
“I’m hopeful that we can figure out a way to bring more
online programs up and running, but I do think it will take some time,” he
said. “We still have some work to do.”
