More students are enrolling in online education

More students are enrolling in online education

According to a recent Babson-Sloan report, more than one in four students are enrolled in at least one course online. This may be due in part to the growing number of nontraditional students who are pursuing higher education through flexible online programming.

One school that is making efforts to accommodate its online learners is the University of California in San Diego (UCSD), which recently announced that its online course options have increased by 83 percent since last year, Channel 10 News reports. UCSD Extension offered online coursework to more than 11,700 enrollees in 791 classes this fall, which is up from 432 courses the previous semester.

Part of the increase may be a result of online courses being looked at more favorably than in the past, according to Elizabeth Meyer, director of online learning for UCSD Extension. She added that the negative attitude that some individuals held about web-based coursework is quickly fading, as more people choose to enroll in these programs.

Recent research from the Sloan Consortium indicates that enrollment in online courses has increased by 17 percent over the past year.

By Mark Danson