Students Keep Online Education Close To Home
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Online education may be opening the doors so that people can study anywhere in the world, but at least one survey is showing that many online students prefer keep things local. Approximately two out of every three online students live within the geographical area of their training or post-secondary institution and up to one third of online students are living within a fifty mile radius of their education provider.
This information is just one of many facts that's being revealed by Eduventures Online Higher Education Market Update. The report was designed to help college and university administrators with the strategic, marketing and operational challenges of their online learning programs. It examines the online student population, growth rates, dollar size, and market share with a particular emphasis on geography, discipline and credential of the students taking part in online education.
Despite the desire of online learners to remain close to home, the online education market is still booming according Eduventures' data. In 2006 the number of students studying online exceeded 1.5 million, which demonstrates a growth rate of 24 percent over 2005.
"Strong consumer interest in online delivery, far in excess of current participation, combined with the growing acceptance of online education by constituents, including faculty, institutional management, governments, students, consumers, and employers, suggests room for significant growth for the foreseeable future," said Eduventures senior analyst and report co-author Noah Carp.
According to the report online learners accounted for 8.6 per cent of the post-secondary students attending degree granting schools in the U.S. in 2006 and are expected to account for 11.5 percent, or approximately 2.13 million students, by 2008. As well, Eduventures found that a high proportion of online learning takes place at only a small number of schools. In 2005, 63 percent of the reported online students came from only 16 of the 156 schools that Eduventures studied. The majority of schools had only a small number of online learners, usually less than 500 students.
And what is it that these hundreds of students are choosing to study online? According to the Market Update, Bachelor Degree programs are the most popular followed by Associate Degree programs. Eduventures also notes that the majority of students are completing or finishing off their Bachelor degrees with online courses, rather than completing the entire degree through online learning. Business, education, liberal arts, healthcare and information technology were ranked among the "best performing", or most popular, fields of online study at the schools that were studied.
Richard Garrett, Eduventures program director and senior research analyst explained, "The degree-led profile of online higher education is in line with consumer demand for post secondary education with strong career impact, and is indicative of the greater return on investment to institutions of longer, more expensive programs."
Those interested in studying the Online Higher Education Market Update in more detail or joining Eduventures collaborative research program can do so by visiting www.eduventures.com.