distance education programs

Information about distance education programs

Distance Education: Growth in distance education programs

A decade ago, when distance education programs were largely the province of correspondence schools, concerns about fraud and abuse by some schools led the federal government to place restrictions on, among other things, the percentage of courses an institution could provide by distance education and still qualify to participate in the federal aid programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA). In 2002, however, with distance education programs growing rapidly and becoming more a part of mainstream higher education through courses taught by Internet or videoconferencing, the Congress began reexamining these and other distance education rules to determine if changes are warranted (check with the financial aid officer of the schools you are looking into to determine the current rules).

About 1.5 million out of 19 million postsecondary students took at least one course through distance education programs in the 1999-2000 school year. These 1.5 million distance education students differ from other postsecondary students in a number of respects. Compared to other students, they tend to be older and are more likely to be employed full-time and attending school part-time.

They also have higher incomes and are more likely to be married. Most students take distance education courses at public institutions, with more taking courses from two-year schools than from four-year schools. The Internet is the most common mode of delivery for providing distance education.

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Distance education programs include courses delivered off campus using live, interactive television or audio; prerecorded television or video; CD-ROM; or a computer-based system such as, the Internet, e-mail, or chat rooms.

Many students who take distance education courses participate in federal student aid programs. About one-third of undergraduates and graduate students who take all their coursework through distance education programs receive Title IV financial aid.

Accrediting agencies play an important role in reviewing distance education programs. They, and education, are the "gatekeepers" with respect to ensuring quality at postsecondary institutions- including those that offer distance education programs. The HEA allows accrediting agencies to develop their own standards for ensuring the quality of education provided by the institutions they accredit. It also gives Education the authority to recognize those accrediting agencies it considers to be reliable authorities on the quality of education provided by the institutions they accredit.

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Distance education programs are not a new concept, but in recent years, they have assumed markedly new forms and greater prominence. Distance education's older form were the correspondence course programs - home study courses generally completed by mail. More recently, distance education programs have increasingly been delivered in electronic forms, such as videoconferencing and the Internet. Some of these newer forms share more features of traditional classroom instruction. For example, students taking a course by videoconference generally participate in an actual class in which they can interact directly with the instructor. Many postsecondary schools have added or expanded electronically-based programs, so that distance education is now relatively common across the entire postsecondary landscape.

While newer forms of distance education programs may incorporate more elements of traditional classroom education than before, they can still differ from a traditional educational experience in many ways.

For example, Internet-based distance education programs, in which coursework is provided through computer hookup, may substitute a computer screen for face-to-face interaction between student and instructor. Chat rooms, bulletin boards, and e-mail become common forms of interaction. Support services, such as counseling, tutoring, and library services, may also be provided without any face-to-face contact.

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As the largest provider of student financial aid to postsecondary students (an estimated $52 billion in fiscal year 2002), the federal government has a substantial interest in the quality of distance education programs. Under Title IV of the HEA, the federal government provides grants, work-study wages, and student loans to millions of students each year. For the most part, students taking distance education courses can qualify for this aid in the same way as students taking traditional courses.

Analysis show that students who have taken distance education courses have different demographic characteristics when compared with the characteristics 6 of postsecondary students who did not enroll in distance education programs. These differences included the following (Based on work done by the United States General Accounting Office between April and September of 2002).

Students taking courses through distance education programs are older

Students who took all their courses through distance education tended to be older on average when compared to other students.

Students taking courses through distance education programs are more likely to be married

Graduate and undergraduate students that took all of their courses through distance education programs are more likely to be married than those taking no distance education courses.

Undergraduates taking courses through distance education programs are more likely to be female.

Women represented about 65 percent of the undergraduate students who took all their courses through distance education programs. In contrast, they represented about 56 percent of undergraduates who did not take a distance education course. For graduate students, there was no significant difference in the gender of students who took distance education courses and those who did not.

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Students in distance education programs are more likely to work full-time.

A higher percentage of distance education students work full-time when compared to students who did not take any distance education courses. This difference was greatest among graduate students where about 85 percent of the students that took all of their courses through distance education worked full-time compared to 51 percent of students who did not take any distance education courses.

Students in distance education programs are more likely to be part-time students.

Students in distance education programs tend to go to school on a part-time basis. For undergraduates, about 63 percent of the students who took all their courses through distance education programs were part-time students while about 47 percent of the students who did not take any distance education courses were part-time students. This trend also occurred among graduate students (about 79 percent of those who took their entire program through distance education programs were part-time students compared with about 54 percent of those who did not take any distance education courses).

Students in distance education programs tend to have higher average incomes.

In general, graduate students that took courses through distance education programs tended to have higher average incomes than students that did not take any distance education courses. We found similar patterns for undergraduate students.

Students in distance education programs tended to have higher average incomes among graduate students

Institutions used the Internet more than any other mode to deliver distance education programs

Postsecondary institutions used the Internet more than any other mode to deliver distance education programs. At the three main types of institutions (public, private non-profit, and proprietary 9 ), more than half of the undergraduate students who took at least one distance education course did so over the Internet.

Institutions that offered graduate programs also used the Internet as the primary means of delivering distance education courses.

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Institutions enrolled the most distance education students in subjects related to business, humanities, and education.

For undergraduates, about 21 percent of students who took their entire program through distance education studied business and 13 percent studied courses related to the humanities. This is similar to patterns of students who did not take any distance education classes.

For graduate students, about 24 percent of students who took their entire program through distance education enrolled in courses related to education and about 19 percent studied business. Again, this is similar to patterns of graduate students who did not take any distance education classes.

Federal student aid is an important consideration for many students who take courses through distance education programs, although not to the same degree as students in more traditional classroom settings. Students who took their entire courseload through distance education programs applied for student aid at a lower rate than students who did not take any distance education courses (about 40 percent compared with about 50 percent), and fewer also received federal aid (about 31 percent compared with about 39 percent). Nonetheless, even these lower percentages for distance education represent a substantial federal commitment.

Students who took their entire courseload through distance education programs received an estimated $763 million in federal student aid in the1999-2000 school year. Students who took at least one distance education course may have also received federal student aid; however, the data sources used by NPSAS do not distinguish between aid awarded for distance education courses and traditional classroom courses.

Distance education programs have grown rapidly over the past few years and distance learning presents new educational opportunities for students.

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 Information is partially based on documents from the U.S. Department of Education