Survey: What Online College Students Need

It’s been five years since colleges moved their teaching and learning online in response to the COVID pandemic, and Inside Higher Ed’s 2025 Survey of Campus Chief Technology/Information Officers, released today, shows that while online learning may still be adjusting to a new post-pandemic normal, it’s not going anywhere.

Half of surveyed CTOs indicate that student demand for online and/or hybrid course options has increased substantially year over year at their institution. Nearly the same share say their college has added a substantial number of new online or hybrid course options over the same period. Meanwhile, the most recent Changing Landscape of Online Education Project report found something similar: Nearly half of chief online learning officers surveyed said that enrollment in online degree programs at their institution is now higher than that of on-campus programs—and even more said their college had undergone a strategic shift in response to such demand.

And even while identifying increased student interest in on-site learning for certain activities, the 2025 Students and Technology Report from Educause also reveals general student appreciation of flexible learning formats and an outright preference for online courses among older learners.

Amid this growing demand for online and hybrid courses, we surveyed students studying in different modalities to understand how their needs and interests might differ.

Our annual Student Voice survey of 5,025 two- and four-year learners with Generation Lab polled learners about their study experiences relative to their peers taking all their courses online and those taking a mix of both in-person and online courses, as of spring 2024. We looked for gaps in responses and key overlaps between those groups, along with potentially counterintuitive responses from online-only learners. (The survey asked all students about academic success, health and wellness, involvement in college life, career readiness, and more.)

Experts say the findings, listed below, have big implications for institutions looking to better serve online learners. One clear takeaway, up front? Online-only students’ sense of belonging—a student success factor linked to academic performance, persistence and mental health—lags that of peers studying in person. But promoting belonging among online learners may look different than it does in other classroom settings.

“In general, if we want to foster belonging among online learners, we need to stop importing in-person solutions into digital environments,” said Omid Fotuhi, director of learning innovation at WGU Labs and a research associate at the University of Pittsburgh who studies online learners, belonging, motivation and performance. “Belonging online isn’t a watered-down version of the campus quad—it’s a different ecology altogether. And that ecology requires deliberate psychological attunement to the lived realities of today’s increasingly diverse, time-strapped, digitally distributed students.”

Stephanie L. Moore, associate professor of organization, information and learning sciences at the University of New Mexico and editor in chief of the Journal of Computing in Higher Education, who also reviewed the data for Inside Higher Ed, had a similar take: that it’s a “good impetus for higher education leaders and planners to think about what belonging means beyond extracurricular activities.”

But first—and to Fotuhi’s point about diversity—who are online learners? Across the U.S., they tend to be older and more likely to be working already than their in-person peers. And the 854 online-only Student Voice respondents are significantly more likely than the 4,000-plus other respondents to be working full-time: Some 45 percent are working 30 or more hours per week, versus 22 percent of the group as a whole.

Most are first-generation college students, as well, at 59 percent, compared to 33 percent of in-person students and 48 percent of those taking a mix of in-person and online courses.

Perhaps related to their working status, online-only students are less likely than the group over all to be taking a full-time course load, at 48 percent versus 68 percent. But they’re roughly as likely as the group over all to report a learning disability or difference (14 percent), a physical disability or condition (14 percent), or a mental health condition or illness (35 percent).

Whatever their characteristics, Moore said online students want to feel that “they are truly part of the university,” viewed by an institution as “our students” versus “those students.” That’s a helpful lens through which to interpret the following findings.

What We Found

1. Online-only students rate their sense of academic fit and educational quality highly. Their sense of belonging? Not so much. 

Online-only students’ perceptions of quality are somewhat lower than those of respondents studying exclusively in person, but a majority of each group still rate their educational quality good or excellent: 67 percent of online students versus 76 percent of in-person learners. Students taking a mix of online and in-person courses split the difference, at 71 percent. And while online-only students’ sense of academic fit at their college approaches that of the group over all, the gap widens on sense of social belonging. Just 31 percent of online-only students rate their sense of belonging as good or excellent, compared to 48 percent of in-person students. Those taking a mix of online and in-person courses again split the difference.

The responses suggest that colleges and universities over all have work to do on belonging, regardless of modality. But the especially low ratings among online-only students merit particular attention, given that online learners have elsewhere been shown to complete at lower rates. It’s not immediately clear from this survey to what online-only students attribute this lower sense of belonging, as they’re less likely than the group over all to say that professors getting to know them better, study groups and peer learning, and more opportunities for social connection—all factors associated with belonging—would help boost their success. They’re also less likely than in-person-only peers to attribute what’s been called the mental health crisis to increased loneliness, when presented with a list of possible drivers (21 percent versus 33 percent, respectively).

However, online-only students are significantly less likely to have participated in extracurriculars than other peers: 64 percent say they haven’t participated in any such activities, compared to 35 percent of the group over all. Similarly, 57 percent of online-only learners have attended no events at their college, compared to 26 percent of the group over all. (More on that later.)

2. Online-only students, like their other peers, want more affordable tuition and fewer high-stakes exams.

Across the board, students say fewer exams and lower tuition will improve their chances of success. The No. 1 non-classroom-based thing all students—including online-only students—say would boost their academic success, when presented from a list of possibilities, is making tuition more affordable so they can better balance academics with finances and other work. And the No. 1 classroom-based action online students and their other peers say would help is encouraging faculty members to limit high-stakes exams, such as those counting for more than 40 percent of a course grade.

3. Online-only students tend to prefer online, asynchronous courses.

Would online students prefer to be studying in person? Many Student Voice respondents studying online say no, supporting other data suggesting that online learners value the modality for its flexibility and convenience. Asked about their preferred modality, the largest share of online-only students, 54 percent, choose online, asynchronous courses. Still, the second-most-popular option for this group—if by a wide margin—is in person, selecting up to two options.

In-person students, meanwhile, overwhelmingly prefer in-person learning, at 74 percent. Many students taking a mix of in-person and online courses also tend to prefer the in-person setting, with 52 percent choosing this.

As for their preferred class formats and teaching practices, beyond modality, online-only students and students over all are most likely to prefer interactive lectures, in which the professor delivers a short lecture but punctuates the class with active learning strategies. About a quarter of online students also prefer case studies, which connect course concepts to real-world problems. That’s when selecting up to two options from a longer list.

One bonus finding: Online-only students are slightly less likely than the group over all to say they consider themselves customers of their institution in some capacity (58 percent versus 65 percent, respectively).

4. Many online-only students, like their other peers, report that stress is impeding their academic success.

Online-only students report experiencing chronic academic stress (distinct from acute academic stress) at half the rate of in-person students: 13 percent versus 26 percent. This could be related to the fact that relatively fewer online students are taking a full-time course load. But online-only students are more likely to cite balancing academics with personal, family or financial responsibilities as a top stressor (52 percent versus 44 percent of in-person students). And they are about as likely as the group over all to say that stress impacts their ability to focus, learn and do well academically “a great deal,” at 42 percent. This overall finding on stress was one of the most significant of this Student Voice survey cycle, and online-only students’ responses mean that institutions trying to tackle student stress should keep these learners in mind.

To that point: The top thing all students say their institution could do to boost their overall well-being is rethinking exam schedules and/or encouraging faculty members to limit high-stakes exams: 42 percent of online-only students say this would be a big help, as do 46 percent of respondents over all (when presented with a list of options, selecting up to three).

5. Most online-only students don’t participate in extracurriculars, and some say they could benefit from more virtual participation options.

Two in three online-only students say they haven’t participated in any extracurricular activities, much more than the group over all. Online-only students are also less likely than the group over all to believe that participation in extracurriculars and events is important to their overall well-being and success: Just 21 percent of online-only students say this is very important to their success as a college student, while 23 percent say this is true for success after graduation.

As for what would increase online students’ involvement, the top two factors from a longer list of options are if they lived on or near campus and if there were more virtual attendance options (34 percent each). These numbers don’t necessarily amount to a ringing endorsement of virtual participation options, but they do signal that colleges could be doing more in this area. And beyond virtual participation, while many online learners do not live close to their institutions, many do live within an hour’s drive, according to existing data. This means that institutions might also benefit from including local or semi-local online students in their campus involvement initiatives.

6. Only-online students are confident in their futures but highlight career support needs.

Online-only students indicate they’ve interacted with their college career center at comparable rates to their peers. Their perceptions of career-readiness efforts across different dimensions are also comparable to their peers’. For example, 21 percent of online-only students describe their career center as having sufficient online resources, compared to 20 percent of the group over all—a sign that these resources may be lacking across the board. Many online students, like students generally, also say they want more help from their institutions connecting with internships and job opportunities, when presented with a list of career-readiness priorities.

At the same time, 74 percent of online students are very or somewhat confident that their education and college experiences are preparing them for success postgraduation, however they define it, as are 80 percent of in-person students.

What Faculty and Institutions Can Do

Fotuhi, of WGU Labs, said the findings resonate with national trends he and colleagues track in their College Innovation Network research—notably, “the tension between the appeal of flexibility and the risks of isolation” for online learners.

Fotuhi described what’s been called “the efficiency-belonging dilemma” as when online learning “meets students’ logistical needs, but often falls short on the emotional and relational dimensions of engagement.” Yet if online students (like those in our survey) aren’t demanding engagement in the form of study groups or professor familiarity, what do they want instead—or at least more acutely?

Fotuhi’s answer: “From our work, we see strong signals that online learners benefit from institutionally scaffolded structures of connection.” These include:

• Proactive nudges from advisers and coaches, especially those personalized to milestones or struggles
• Peer mentorship or cohort-based models that operate virtually
• Role clarity about where (and to whom) to go for academic, emotional and professional support

Interventions to support students’ digital confidence may also be a “powerful, indirect lever for fostering belonging,” Fotuhi said. Same for virtual participation options for involvement as well as services “that mirror the convenience of their academic experience.” Think asynchronous orientation materials, online student organizations and virtual mentoring.

Tony Bates, a now-retired online learning expert based in Canada, also highlighted the role of the classroom in promoting belonging in online learning, where there remains much variation in teaching methods: Course activities “are more likely to be the only way online students can bond with other students,” and the “online course environment needs to be designed to encourage such interactivity.”

Moore, of the University of New Mexico, added that in online learning, students “look for and experience belonging through increased interactions with their fellow learners and their instructors, through seeing themselves represented in examples, cases and readings, and through access to support services and resources.”

Similar to Fotuhi’s framework for an “ecology” of supports, Moore encouraged institutions to take an “ecosystems” approach to supporting online learners, beyond offering them mere access to courses. This can include health and wellness offerings, librarians who “make support feel more personal,” and career services that are “proactive.”

When it comes to students’ attitudes toward high-stakes exams, Moore said the Student Voice data point to “continued overreliance on testing, especially high-stakes testing, as a primary assessment method.”

Adult learners, in particular—many of whom are online learners—“are looking for learning that is relevant to their careers and futures,” she said. And in the realm of assessment, this “is facilitated by different instructional and assessment strategies than tests.”

Bates argued that online learning “lends itself to continuous assessment,” or frequent, formative assessment, as it’s “much easier to track individual students’ progress through an online course,” where all their learning activities can be monitored and recorded.

Moore said that shifting assessment away from high-stakes testing has some “added bonuses of increasing learner motivation, decreasing their stress—specifically the kind that might motivate some to cheat—and increasing their learning outcomes.”