Press Release

Midwest sees continued growth in college courses taken online

For More Information Contact:
Mary E. Feilmeyer, Director of Communications & Program Officer
Midwestern Higher Education Compact
E-mail: maryf@mhec.org

MINNEAPOLIS — More college students are taking online courses at college and universities in the Midwest than ever before, according to a recent report published by the Sloan Consortium in partnership with the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC-pronounced meck). Over 460,000 students in MHEC’s 11-member states took at least one online course in fall 2005, which represents a one-year growth rate of 35 percent, the same as observed nationally.

The report, Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006, Midwestern Edition, is based on the Sloan Consortium’s annual survey of online learning at more than 2,200 colleges and universities in the United States. Just over 80 percent of the Midwestern institutions — 573 out of 706 — responded to the survey.
“The Midwest is known for providing students with a high quality education, and online learning extends that opportunity to even more students, especially to those whose job and personal responsibilities make it difficult to attend college in a traditional classroom setting,” said MHEC President Larry Isaak. “Nearly half a million Midwestern students are now obtaining some form of their education online. This first Midwestern edition of the Sloan Consortium’s online survey and report allows readers to compare their own views to others in the Midwest as well as to the national sample of colleges and universities.”

Among the report’s highlights:

• More than 98 percent of large public colleges and universities (with more than 15,000 students) in the region offer online courses or programs — more than double the percentage of smaller institutions.
• Almost two-thirds of chief academic officers in MHEC states who responded to the survey rate student learning from online courses equal to or better than traditional classroom learning.
• Nearly 75 percent of respondents reported that online learning is reaching students — particularly working adults — who would otherwise not be served by traditional, face-to-face classroom learning.
• Online students, both nationally and in the Midwest, are overwhelmingly undergraduates, matching their proportion among the overall higher education student body.  Nearly six in ten of all Midwestern online undergraduate students are enrolled at community colleges.
• Nationally, academic leaders from larger campuses tend to hold more favorable views of online learning outcomes than their counterparts at smaller and mid-sized institutions. However, those from mid-sized Midwestern college and universities (3,000-7,499 students) were more positive than those from large-sized Midwestern institutions.

The report also identifies continuing challenges in online education. Among them:

• Only one in five academic leaders believes that faculty members on their campuses accept the value and legitimacy of online education.
• Midwestern academic leaders cited the need for students to be more disciplined in order to succeed in online courses. Over one-half of survey respondents agreed that this represents a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of online learning.

“While the study clearly reveals the growth and importance of online education in the region, there is more work to be done in these areas,” said Elaine Allen, co-author of the report and co-director of the Babson Survey Research Group, which conducted the study. “In many respects, the report provides a useful agenda for the higher education community.”

The complete report is available online at http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/pdf/Making_the_Grade_Midwest.pdf.

For a description of the Midwestern edition, see http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/midwest06.asp.

For comparison data, read the Making the Grade national report on online learning, published in November 2006 by the Sloan Consortium, at http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/index.asp.

Research for both reports was conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group, based at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Policy experts in online learning and researchers who wrote the online learning report are available to speak with journalists. Contact MHEC Communications or Babson College.
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The Midwestern Higher Education Compact member states are: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin. MHEC sponsors a variety of programs to reduce costs, to increase student access to college, and inform policymaking through targeted and timely research and analysis. http://www.mhec.org.

The Sloan Consortium is the nation’s largest association of institutions and organizations committed to quality online education and administered through Babson College and Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. http://www.sloan-c.org.

Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., is recognized internationally as a leader in entrepreneurial management education. http://www.babson.edu.