ICN reports Indiana enrollments in online college courses reached 90,000 in 2003-04

Number of state's online students grew 57 percent; distance learning opportunities continue to attract working adult Hoosiers

Released: January 26, 2005
Contact: Susan Sullivan, 317.263.8849, ssulliva@ihets.org

INDIANAPOLIS—Thanks to the growing utilization of technology by Indiana’s colleges and universities—as well as expanding college course catalogs—more Indiana students are seeking distance learning opportunities, according to Susan Scott, director of e-learning for the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System (IHETS).

The Indiana College Network (ICN), a service of IHETS, reports nearly 104,000 course enrollments at Indiana postsecondary institutions for the 2003-04 academic year. Colleges in several other states are seeing their distance enrollments begin to plateau, but Indiana ’s numbers represent a 52 percent increase over the previous year and a 400 percent increase over five years.

Of the 104,000 enrollments, nearly 90,000 (or 85 percent of the total) were for courses offered over the Internet, a figure which grew by 57 percent from the 2002-03 year. Although the number of students engaged in e-learning is estimated at just six percent of total postsecondary enrollments, the full time equivalent would be 10,135. If these students were enrolled at a single university, it would be the sixth largest university in the state.

Scott reports the 2003-04 Indiana enrollment figures gathered by ICN are the most comprehensive to date, explaining they include independent colleges and universities for the first time.

“Indiana’s colleges and universities now offer 70 degree programs and 66 certificate and endorsement programs for completion at a distance via technology,” Scott reports. “Approximately 80 percent are undergraduate students, the other 20 percent being graduate students pursuing master’s degrees in business, engineering, nursing and health professions, and teacher or administrator education.”

According to Scott, about 1,600 technology-delivered college credit classes are offered throughout the state each semester. “This new style of learning is becoming big business for state institutions, with nearly 304,000 student credit hours of tuition and fees accounting for an estimated $38.3 million in revenue.”

Few of Indiana ’s approximately 28,000 e-learners are traditional on-campus students. Most are working adults with work and family responsibilities that prevent regular attendance at a campus or learning center. The majority of these students are women, most with children still at home, whose average age is in their early 30s. The exception is Ivy Tech students who, on average, are in their late 20s. “Many of these students report that they would have not been able to fulfill their educational goals without these distance learning opportunities,” Scott noted.

Like other states across the nation, Indiana ’s higher education administrators are also beginning to see more traditional, campus-based college students use these online courses to pick up classes they need to stay on track for timely degree completion. As funding cutbacks limit universities’ ability to offer enough classes for all students each semester, some Hoosier students will enroll in classes offered at other institutions. “Students from Purdue, for example, may take an online course offered at Ball State in order to graduate on time,” said Scott.

Some students continue to choose classes with “live” real-time interaction and enrollments in two-way video classes. With no fixed meeting time, the flexibility of on-demand or “asynchronous” courses is draws many more students. These are available via the Web and through cable, videotape, DVD, and Web streaming.

“There continue to be students who prefer real-time class interaction with their instructors and peers and that number grew last year,” Scott added. “But the overwhelming majority, or about 90 percent of total enrollments, prefer the flexibility of completing their coursework according to their own schedules.”

ICN is committed to supporting inter-institutional cooperation among Indiana 's higher educational community and helping students achieve their educational goals. For more information about the Indiana College Network, visit its Web site at www.icn.org.

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