Could Online Education Help More Students Stay In College?

We have a college dropout problem in the United States. We once led the world in the number of college graduates as a proportion of population, but have fallen far behind most of Western Europe and even some Asian countries in recent years.

The number of students at four-year institutions who complete their studies within six years of starting has fallen to about 40 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Education. At two-year institutions, the number of students who complete their programs within three years stands at about 20 percent.

Why is this happening? Many studies have aimed to get to the bottom of this problem. A recent study takes the novel approach of asking the students themselves why they didn't -- or couldn't -- finish college. Microsoft founder Bill Gates has been interested in issues surrounding education in America for many years now. His charitable organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, recently helped fund a study by Public Agenda.

Called "With Their Whole Lives Ahead of Them," this report consists of interviews with 600 young adults who didn't finish college. Their responses and views were then compared with those of college graduates to determine possible causes for the college dropout epidemic.

College costs up 400 percent over 25 years

According to the Public Agenda report's findings, the major reason for dropping out of college was probably the most obvious one: cost. College attendance costs have risen an average of 400 percent in the last 25 years, while average incomes have only increased by about 150 percent.

More students work and study than ever before

The second reason for failure to finish college was more surprising. Many students who failed to graduate from college cited the need to work or uphold family responsibilities.

In a 2009 report called "Work Less, Study More and Succeed," researchers from the Demos Foundation concluded that the proportion of full-time college students younger than 24 who also work had increased from 34 percent in 1972 to 52 percent in 2000. The US Department of Education's 2007-2008 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study found that 45 percent of students at four-year public institutions worked more than 20 hours a week. At two-year institutions, 61 percent of students were working at least 20 hours a week. And 23 percent of college students were also parents. It's no wonder that taking college courses -- and meeting college costs and living expenses -- conflicted with these responsibilities.

Online education: Flexible scheduling for working students

When asked by Public Agenda what would have helped them stay in school, most working students said that more flexible class scheduling would have enabled them to meet their working and family responsibilities while continuing to study, with 57 percent suggesting moving more classes online.

This makes sense: online college courses are about as flexible as it gets in terms of scheduling. While you'll still have to turn in your homework on time and meet deadlines, you're not tied down to a fixed class meeting time, and can study whenever or wherever you want, as long as you have Internet access.

Well-designed online degree courses make it possible for you to receive your course materials in a variety of media (podcasts, video, etc.) and also encourage you to interact with students and professors beyond e-mail. This convenience could make online education an attractive prospect for many students with responsibilities that don't fit the traditional campus schedule.

But just because it's easier to get to your classroom when you study online doesn't mean earning your degree is easy. Online education costs about the same as on-campus education. Schools still have to pay instructors, house servers, produce course materials (including videos) and provide administrative as well as academic support to students. An online degree program will also be just as demanding academically as a traditional classroom-taught degree.

And if you're worried about whether online education is as effective as traditional classroom teaching, don't be. A 2009 Department of Education meta-analysis, "Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning," found that online education actually results in small but significant improvements in performance over traditional classroom instruction.

If you're one of the many working non-graduates who really wants to earn or complete your degree, online college education's convenience could help you get there.

Information in this article was provided by AIU Online, an online university offering career-focused degrees at the associate, bachelor's, and master's levels. Find out more at www.aiuonline.edu. (AIU does not guarantee employment or salary.) Courtesy of ARAcontent.

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