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Growing By Degrees: Online Education in the United States, 2005

Posted on: Thursday, 17 November 2005, 12:00 CST

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2005 Survey of Online Learning concludes that the breadth of online college courses may soon rival traditional face-to-face offerings. Survey results show more than three out of five institutions offering face-to-face undergraduate (63%) or graduate (65%) level courses also offer courses at the same level online.

In addition, larger percentages (56%) of chief academic officers agree that online education is critical to their long-term strategy. "Colleges and universities are starting to understand that online courses help increase enrollment and improve diversity without the need for additional classrooms," said Frank Mayadas, president, Sloan-C and program director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. "It also helps address professors' needs for workplace flexibility, among other issues challenging academia."

The third annual survey, "Growing by Degrees: Online Education in the United States, 2005," is available as a free download at http://www.sloan-c.org/resources/survey.asp. It is based on responses from 1,025 colleges and universities and represents the state of online education in U.S. higher education. In an effort to best measure online learning in America, The Sloan Consortium is partnering with the College Board to expand data collection. "Online learning is rapidly becoming a mainstream college experience," said Hal Higginbotham, president, collegeboard.com. "Starting this year we will include Sloan-C questions in our Annual Survey of Colleges to better understand online learning in higher education." The collaborative effort will not only make participation more convenient for responding institutions, it will effectively triple the study's sample size.

Results from the 2005 survey also show slightly more schools use core faculty to teach their online courses than their face-to-face courses and the number of students studying online continues its consistent growth with 2.3 million enrolled in at least one online course in the fall 2004 semester. "Online learning continues to grow far faster than overall higher education enrollment," said Jeff Seaman, chief information officer and survey director, The Sloan Consortium. "In partnering with the College Board we greatly expand our ability to examine and analyze the trends and patterns of online education in America."

The Sloan Consortium (http://www.sloan-c.org/) is the nation's largest association of institutions and organizations committed to quality online education and administered through Babson College and Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.

College Board (http://www.collegeboard.com/) is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the association is composed of more than 5,000 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations. Each year, the College Board serves over three and a half million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,500 colleges through major programs and services in college admissions, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT(R), the PSAT/NMSQT(R), and the Advanced Placement Program(R) (AP(R)). The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities, and concerns.

The Sloan Consortium

CONTACT: Mike Chmura of Babson College, +1-781-239-4549, ormchmura@babson.edu; or Patti Giglio for The Sloan Consortium, +1-202-903-7869,or psgcom@starpower.net

Web site: http://www.sloan-c.org/http://www.sloan-c.org/resources/survey.asphttp://www.collegeboard.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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