A program of studies leading to a degree conferred by an educational institution wherein the majority of courses are online courses.
Published in Chapter:
Employers' Perceptions of Online Degree Programs
Judith C. Simon (University of Memphis, USA), Jollean K. Sinclaire (Arkansas State University, USA), Lloyd D. Brooks (University of Memphis, USA), and Ronald B. Wilkes (University of Memphis, USA)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 9
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-198-8.ch126
Abstract
The opportunities for students to take courses, and entire degree programs, online continue to increase, as many traditional colleges and universities have developed programs to compete with for-profit online schools that have proliferated in recent years. In 2003, The Wall Street Journal reported “an estimated 350,000 students are enrolled in fully online degree programs” (Dunham, 2003). In 2005, it was estimated that “more than 1 million students are seeking degrees entirely via the Web” (Tosto, 2005). According to Eduventures, “growth rates for online higher education greatly exceed those projected for U.S. postsecondary education overall (approximately 2%), positioning online higher education as a major growth engine” (Eduventures, 2007).