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istock.com/z_wei
The number of college students enrolled in at least one online course -- and the proportion of all enrolled students who are studying online -- continued to rise at U.S. institutions in the 2016 academic year, newly released federal data show.
The statistics, part of a major release of provisional data on enrollments, employment and other topics from the Education Department's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, provide the most up-to-date information on enrollments in online and distance education.
The overarching story is a familiar one: even as overall enrollment in postsecondary institutions stays flat (unlike recent numbers from the National Student Clearinghouse, the federal data show enrollments staying roughly constant, not declining), online enrollments climb.
As a result, so, too, does the proportion of all students at institutions eligible to award federal financial aid who are taking at least one course at a distance, as seen in the table below.
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The increased likelihood of being enrolled online is occurring at most levels and types of institutions in higher education.
Since 2014, the proportion of undergraduate students at Title IV-eligible institutions who are enrolled in at least one distance education course has risen from 27.1 percent to 30 percent in 2016, and the proportion of graduate students enrolled at least partially online has grown from 32.5 percent to 36.6 percent in 2016.
Community college students (30.9 percent) were more likely than undergraduates at four-year public institutions (29 percent) and four-year private colleges (25.6 percent) to be enrolled in at least one online course.
But more than two-thirds of the students taking at least one online course in 2016 were at public institutions, while roughly 18 percent were at private nonprofit colleges and 13 percent were at for-profit institutions. And the growth in the number of students taking at least one online course in 2016 was greater among public institutions than it was for private institutions, a change in the pattern of recent years.
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |
All Students | 20,511,849 | 20,454,336 | 20,637,987 | 20,536,231 | 20,464,608 |
Students Not Enrolled in Any Distance Courses | 15,425,940 | 15,157,495 | 14,885,489 | 14,547,400 | 14,124,317 |
Students Enrolled in at Least One Distance Course | 5,085,909 | 5,296,841 | 5,752,498 | 5,988,831 | 6,340,291 |
Proportion of All Students Who Are Enrolled in at Least One Distance Course | 24.8% | 25.9% | 27.9% | 29.2% | 31% |
Students Enrolled Exclusively in Distance Courses | 2,310,056 | 2,427,504 | 2,804,867 | 2,873,144 | 2,983,075 |
Students Enrolled in Some (but Not All) Distance Courses | 2,775,853 | 2,869,337 | 2,947,631 | 3,115,687 | 3,357,216 |
Students at for-profit colleges were by far likeliest to be enrolled at a distance -- a full 57.5 percent studied at least partially online in 2016. But for-profit institutions as a sector continued to see a large overall drop in the number of students they enrolled (from about 1.54 million in 2015 to about 1.46 million in fall 2016), so the number of students enrolled online dropped, too.
Where Are They Enrolling?
Not surprisingly given that fact, for-profit institutions dominate the list of individual institutions that experienced meaningful drops in online enrollment from 2015 to 2016, led by the University of Phoenix, American Public University System and Kaplan University. Phoenix's drop was particularly stark -- more than 30,000 students.
But not all for-profit institutions had similar fates: Grand Canyon University grew by nearly 25 percent, and institutions such as Walden, Capella and Ashford Universities held steady or grew modestly.
The biggest gainers among nonprofit institutions were behemoths like Western Governors University and Arizona State University. A few, including Liberty University and Baker College, lost significant enrollments. (Note: The table below has been updated from an earlier version to correct some data.)
Number of Students Taking at Least One Class Online, 2015 | Number of Students Taking at Least One Class Online, 2016 | |
University of Phoenix-Arizona | 162,003 | 129,332 |
Western Governors University | 70,504 | 84,289 |
Grand Canyon University | 54,543 | 68,542 |
Liberty University | 72,519 | 67,766 |
Southern New Hampshire University | 56,371 | 63,973 |
Walden University | 52,799 | 52,565 |
University of Maryland-University College | 48,677 | 50,932 |
American Public University System | 52,361 | 48,623 |
Excelsior College | 43,123 | 41,658 |
Ashford University | 42,046 | 41,343 |
Capella University | 34,365 | 37,569 |
Kaplan University | 45,268 | 37,431 |
University of Central Florida | 33,034 | 36,107 |
Brigham Young University-Idaho | 33,551 | 35,826 |
Ivy Tech Community College | 34,103 | 34,811 |
Arizona State University-Tempe | 22,809 | 30,989 |
University of Florida | 28,838 | 30,720 |
Florida International University | 26,341 | 30,126 |
Arizona State University | 19,094 | 24,917 |
Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs | 900 | 24,692 |
Chamberlain College of Nursing-Illinois | 22,114 | 24,284 |
Lone Star College System | 21,811 | 22,873 |
University of South Florida-Main Campus | 20,993 | 21,661 |
Columbia Southern University | 20,823 | 21,442 |
University of Texas at Arlington | 17,541 | 21,330 |
Full Sail University | 19,939 | 19,273 |
Houston Community College | 19,111 | 18,877 |
Valencia College | 17,216 | 18,058 |
DeVry University-Illinois | 20,458 | 18,015 |
California State University-Northridge | 16,130 | 17,384 |
St Petersburg College | 16,501 | 16,349 |
Texas Tech University | 14,826 | 16,248 |
Ultimate Medical Academy-Tampa | 12,106 | 16,140 |
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | 14,355 | 15,955 |
College of Southern Nevada | 14,906 | 15,127 |
Kent State University at Kent | 13,754 | 15,100 |
Florida State University | 12,858 | 14,985 |
University of Houston | 12,961 | 14,667 |
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus | 13,992 | 14,491 |
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 10,720 | 14,090 |
Ohio State University-Main Campus | 11,747 | 13,640 |
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide | 12,857 | 13,443 |
Pennsylvania State University-World Campus | 12,242 | 13,411 |
University of North Texas | 12,517 | 13,331 |
National University | 12,116 | 13,168 |
Utah State University | 13,360 | 13,122 |
Northern Virginia Community College | 13,421 | 13,028 |
University of Arizona | 9,660 | 12,997 |
Northern Arizona University | 11,769 | 12,906 |
California State University-Fullerton | 11,148 | 12,742 |
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | 10,037 | 12,519 |
Thomas Edison State University | 13,093 | 12,489 |
Rutgers University-New Brunswick | 10,652 | 12,461 |
Florida Atlantic University | 10,433 | 12,441 |
North Carolina State University | 12,321 | 12,377 |
Ohio University-Main Campus | 10,828 | 12,177 |
East Carolina University | 12,011 | 12,133 |
Columbia College | 9,870 | 12,062 |
San Diego State University | 9,634 | 12,061 |
Broward College | 10,923 | 11,991 |
Cuyahoga Community College District | 12,266 | 11,909 |
Delgado Community College | 4,826 | 11,791 |
Fort Hays State University | 10,950 | 11,746 |
Michigan State University | 9,901 | 11,616 |
Colorado State University-Global Campus | 9,838 | 11,605 |
University of Nevada-Las Vegas | 10,319 | 11,529 |
Florida State College at Jacksonville | 11,611 | 11,506 |
Rio Salado College | 12,092 | 11,329 |
Oregon State University | 10,148 | 11,251 |
Northcentral University | 11,029 | 10,916 |
Nova Southeastern University | 12,147 | 10,893 |
Portland Community College | 10,849 | 10,640 |
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis | 9,807 | 10,597 |
Old Dominion University | 9,343 | 10,484 |
Central Piedmont Community College | 10,177 | 10,463 |
Wilmington University | 12,745 | 10,409 |
Utah Valley University | 9,557 | 10,408 |
Tarrant County College District | 10,377 | 10,402 |
Austin Community College District | 9,896 | 10,364 |
University of Alabama at Birmingham | 12,371 | 10,301 |
The University of Alabama | 9,658 | 10,242 |
University of Nebraska-Lincoln | 7,911 | 10,237 |
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | 9,914 | 10,200 |
American InterContinental University-Online | 11,560 | 10,091 |
California State University-Sacramento | 7,511 | 10,086 |
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | 9,140 | 10,077 |
University of Utah | 8,598 | 9,947 |
Saint Leo University | 11,244 | 9,899 |
Central Texas College | 10,354 | 9,775 |
Columbus State Community College | 11,907 | 9,685 |
Hillsborough Community College | 7,441 | 9,588 |
Tidewater Community College | 9,989 | 9,573 |
SUNY Buffalo State | 2,303 | 9,475 |
Sam Houston State University | 9,278 | 9,456 |
Ball State University | 8,822 | 9,395 |
Drexel University | 9,878 | 9,384 |
Lamar University | 9,120 | 9,326 |
Central New Mexico Community College | 8,557 | 9,288 |
Coastline Community College | 9,776 | 9,227 |
Wake Technical Community College | 8,642 | 9,187 |
The University of Texas at El Paso | 9,384 | 9,116 |
University of Oklahoma | 7,617 | 9,104 |
Indiana Wesleyan University | 0 | 9,079 |
The University of Texas at Austin | 7,021 | 9,003 |
Weber State University | 8,433 | 8,982 |
South University Savannah Online | 10,781 | 8,954 |
Johns Hopkins University | 8,119 | 8,882 |
Baker College | 12,081 | 8,881 |
Saddleback College | 8,514 | 8,848 |
Kennesaw State University | 10,056 | 8,800 |
George Mason University | 7,901 | 8,777 |
University of New Mexico-Main Campus | 8,059 | 8,771 |
Texas Woman's University | 8,787 | 8,761 |
Park University | 8,352 | 8,754 |
American River College | 8,383 | 8,731 |
Troy University | 8,824 | 8,706 |
Texas A & M University-Commerce | 8,335 | 8,699 |
University of North Carolina at Greensboro | 7,395 | 8,644 |
Grantham University | 11,721 | 8,637 |
Eastern Kentucky University | 8,368 | 8,630 |
Salt Lake Community College | 7,504 | 8,595 |
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 8,600 | 8,588 |
University of Missouri-Columbia | 10,572 | 8,576 |
Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale | 7,672 | 8,568 |
Oklahoma State University-Main Campus | 7,413 | 8,479 |
San Jacinto Community College | 7,961 | 8,475 |
University of Iowa | 12,784 | 8,405 |
Western Kentucky University | 7,687 | 8,395 |
University of South Carolina-Columbia | 7,094 | 8,394 |
Richland College | 5,343 | 8,317 |
Lorain County Community College | 4,967 | 8,232 |
San Francisco State University | 6,557 | 8,147 |
Santa Monica College | 7,499 | 8,096 |
Palomar College | 7,306 | 7,952 |
San Joaquin Delta College | 7,474 | 7,941 |
California State University-East Bay | 7,684 | 7,913 |
University of Nebraska at Omaha | 7,537 | 7,893 |
Wichita State University | 7,483 | 7,873 |
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona | 6,298 | 7,871 |
Bellevue University | 8,516 | 7,814 |
Fayetteville Technical Community College | 7,520 | 7,789 |
University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 6,515 | 7,760 |
Tulsa Community College | 7,870 | 7,612 |
The University of West Florida | 6,922 | 7,611 |
Regent University | 6,010 | 7,554 |
University of Toledo | 7,266 | 7,545 |
Palm Beach State College | 7,399 | 7,536 |
Arkansas State University-Main Campus | 6,747 | 7,525 |
West Virginia University | 4,882 | 7,516 |
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth | 930 | 7,514 |