The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center
reported in December that nationwide enrollment at community colleges dropped
6% in 2014. However, online enrollment is on the rise, up more than 15% at some
two-year colleges.
To accommodate online students, community colleges are trying
to provide additional support for students and more professional training for
instructors. The schools are also trying to create new online programs that
meet the needs of local businesses.
Offering flexible scheduling, such as semesters divided
into two eight-week blocks instead of the standard 16-week track, is one way
community colleges are trying to make online programs more accessible. Some even
offer tutoring, counseling, and additional resources to help students. Seminole
State College, Seminole, OK, provides students with a team of advisors who can
be reached by Skype, phone, or email, while online students at Odessa College,
Odessa, TX, are assigned a success coach.
“The traditional
approach is that teaching online courses is easy. Once you set it up, you can
mail it in,” Don Wood, vice president of institutional effectiveness, Odessa
College, said in a report in U.S. News & World Report. “It is actually much more challenging for
faculty to teach online than face-to-face.”