Use of Online Courses at Community Colleges Continues to Grow

Chronicle Article

2008 Distance Education Survey Results: Tracking the Impact of eLearning at Community Colleges

In the WA Community and Technical Colleges:

From fall 2007 to fall 2008, eLearning enrollments grew 24%. In FA08, 22% of all state-supported students took at least one eLearning course, up from 14% in FA07. Fourteen percent of all state-funded enrollments were offered via eLearning. eLearning’s growth is driven by its popularity with young students (median age under 24 years) who typically enroll in one or more courses along with face-to-face classes. However, other older students (median age 27 years) are increasingly attending online as evidenced by the growth in students who attend exclusively online. Both of these kinds of online learners increased by 24% from fall 2007 to fall 2008.