More and more online degree programs are making their way into cyberspace, and online grant applications and fellowship and scholarship opportunities make it easier to find money to help pay for an online education.
Online degree programs in business, nursing, information technology and criminal justice have been popular offerings for years. Now, college catalogs for the fall 2010 semester and the web sites of virtual and traditional institutions have added a great variety of online classes and online degree programs to the mix. An increase in online degree programs at the associate degree level was recently reported in Southern California, and a university in Memphis is said to have added 18 new bachelor and master’s degree programs for the coming fall semester, bringing its total online degree offerings to 40. Online degree offerings from institutions throughout the United States include philosophy, history, African-American studies, the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects and more.
Scholars have suggested the online education boon could in part be the result of a historically large 2009 high school class and physical settings that can’t accommodate a growing student population. In “32 Trends Affecting Distance Education,” representatives of two universities cited National Center for Education statistics forecasting that online college enrollment would grow 16 percent between 2003 and 2010. If you need more information about (http://www.educationconnection.com/forms/SEM-medical-assistants/blog.aspx) student loans and grants, look on the internet.
That forecast didn’t include adults who form a good deal of the distance learning population. According to “32 Trends”, the number of adult students between 1970 and 2000 rose 170 percent as compared to the number of 18 to 24-year-old students that increased by 41 percent. And in much the same way that online classes and online degree programs make education convenient, online grant, scholarship and fellowship opportunities make finding money to offset the costs of education much easier. Online education is said to cost about the same as physically attending college, and online grant applications include the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Large companies, non-profit organizations, civic groups and more also make scholarship and fellowship information available online.
The education market has shifted dramatically from traditional classroom and lecture-room education to online education, a Marketwire news release reported in March. It’s gotten to the point, in fact, where distance learning is growing much faster than higher education overall, according to a March San Diego Business Journal report. More than 4.6 million students were enrolled in least one online course during the fall 2008 semester, representing a 17 percent increase over fall 2007 enrollments, the Business Journal reported, citing a 2009 Sloan Consortium survey. The higher education student population as a whole, on the other hand, rose by only 1.2 percent over these same two periods, according to the survey information provided.
Students can enroll in online classes and online degree programs offered by online colleges and traditional institutions with distance education components. These online education offerings in some instances have been credited with providing more than 60 percent of a traditional for-profit college’s revenues, the Marketwire release stated. The number of students enrolled in online education programs offered by a Memphis institution increased by nearly 50 percent over the course of a year, according to an area newspaper known as the Commercial Appeal. And one college representative reportedly told the San Diego Business Journal that keeping up with the demand for online education has been a challenge. There is an abundance of information about (http://hubpages.com/hub/grants-for-colleges?done) grants for college on the web.
At the time the “32 Trends” report was written, for-profit higher education institutions were considered the fastest growing segment of online education. The number of degree-granting institutions, as per the report, is expected to rise into 2020 and the number of traditional campuses is anticipated to decline. The report forecasted an increase in accelerated online degree programs during this time, as well as an Information Age work force requiring continued retraining and “retooling”.
Distance educators were looking at how wireless laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), videoconferencing, virtual reality, video streaming, gaming environments and other technologies enhance distance learning when “32 Trends” was written. Looking ahead, the report forecasted that college accreditation and program approval is going to change, becoming more outcome-based and, by 2025, without one national accreditation system. Governments, testing companies and others, the report noted, would put testing programs into place, and large corporations would develop their own approval systems. Distance educators, to accommodate the accountability emphasis, “32 Trends” suggested, should plan ahead to maintain accreditation and meet consumer demands. The focus of online education is going to evolve to focus on the student as consumer as well as on flexibility and global reach, according to the report.
Just as with traditional on-site learning, those wishing to attend college via distance classes will find (http://www.educationconnection.com/) scholarships and grants are available to help pay for the classes Begin your search for (http://www.educationconnection.com/online-degrees/) college loans by finding all the forms of aid that apply in your situation.