Distance Education in Higher Education Institutions: Incidence, Audiences, and Plans To Expand. Issue Brief.

Overview & Synopsis

A national survey of distance education courses offered by higher education institutions identified the incidence of distance education courses delivered to remote (off-campus) locations through audio, video, or computer technologies. The study found that a third of institutions offered distance education courses, another quarter planned to offer such courses in the next 3 years, and 42 percent did not offer, and did not plan to offer, such courses in the next 3 years. A much greater percentage of public than private institutions offered distance education courses. Distance education offerings varied by school size and location: fewer small institutions and fewer institutions in the Northeast offered distance education. In academic year 1994-95, an estimated 25,730 distance education courses with different catalog numbers were offered by higher education institutions, and there were about 758,640 students formally enrolled in distance education courses in that year. Additional findings reported cover: the percentage of public and private two- and four-year colleges offering distance education courses; number of institutions offering or planning to offer distance education by geographic region, enrollment size, and type of institution; and percentage of colleges using different types of technology. (SW)