Students Are Less Likely to Complete a Fully Online Degree Program. Why Is That?
Credit: Jay Yuno / Getty Images- Regardless of student demographics, students enrolled exclusively in online programs complete their degrees at lower rates than their counterparts, new research found.
- In 12 years, the number of college students enrolled in exclusively online degree programs grew from 3.9% to 23.4%.
- Researchers suggest that online programs increase wraparound student services to help boost completion rates.
- While exclusively online programs can charge students less, some schools tend to spend more of their budget on marketing instead of student support.
A report by think tank Third Way highlights a concerning trend in the world of online education: Compared to their non-exclusively online counterparts in traditional face-to-face programs, students enrolled in fully online programs graduate at a lower rate.
“We found that students enrolled in exclusively online degree programs were 8.3 percentage points less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree than their non-exclusively online peers,” the report’s authors wrote.
“The negative relationship between online degree enrollment and college completion was consistent across race and ethnicity subgroups. And the negative outcomes associated with online programs were especially concentrated among low-income and veteran students, with students in these groups less likely to complete an exclusively online program by 8.9 and 11.4 percentage points, respectively.”
Report co-author Dr. Justin C. Ortagus, associate professor of higher education administration and policy and the director of the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Florida, told BestColleges that this might be due to some programs focusing on profits rather than students.
The report shows that in just 12 years, the number of college students enrolled in exclusively online degree programs grew from 3.9% to 23.4%.
“There’s been an online education boom for a couple decades now. It’s just been a slow-rising boom,” Ortagus said.
Meanwhile, there’s been a slow rise in online instruction being a critically important medium for college leaders thinking about offering any program at any school.
Ortagus said that having and leveraging both mediums of instruction is the “secret sauce” — combining face-to-face support with the flexibility of online study can move the needle on completion rates.
Ortagus suggests institutions find a way to marry the two dynamics for a holistic experience for students, as there is a way for online options to supplement face-to-face programs. Ortagus says there is value in online learning for parents and full-time working students who can’t go to college without flexibility.
“I think it’s really important not to lose the thread here, that exclusively online programs do have a place in higher education. They can offer opportunities to students who would not be able to go to college otherwise,” Ortagus said.
Ortagus said that one of the biggest challenges for exclusively online students is that they can feel like they are on an island on their own.
Therefore, it’s important that institutions offer services similar to the support they would expect to receive on campus — like academic advising and counseling — to create a sense of belonging.
He said this can include an academic advisor, counselor, or having a contact with the school who students can go to with their questions. According to Ortagus, the value-add of support services shouldn’t disappear when a student enrolls in an online program.
For-Profit, Four-Year Programs Skew Data
The report shows that four-year, for-profit schools, in particular, showed the lowest college completion rates and had the biggest negative impact on the data. For-profits tend to spend more on advertising and marketing than student support, according to research.
Ortagus said this is a prime example of why online programs need transparency about their cost and revenues. He said programs have lost the thread by not having the same level of attention to building communities and networks of support and ensuring students have someone they can go to for questions and advice.
“If the institution can offer a completely flexible, exclusively online experience, and do so in a way that does not have the same type of harms that are associated with for-profit, four-year online experiences, then that can be a net positive for student completion in that you’re capturing students who may not attend college otherwise,” he said.
Researchers Offer Recommendations for Improvement
According to the report, researchers suggest the following policy recommendations be adopted at both the federal and institutional level:
- Require transparent reporting of costs and revenues among exclusively online programs
- Regulate nonprofit institutions’ use of online program managers
- Increase institutional wraparound services for students in exclusively online programs
- Consider clear and elevated accreditation standards for exclusively online degree programs
Ortagus acknowledges that wraparound support services to address student completion can be expensive for institutions, but, he says, “There’s always a tradeoff.”
He cited the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs at City University of New York and the accompanying Advancing Completion through Engagement program at State University of New York as programs that, while costly, have great payoffs.
He said this tradeoff emphasizes the need for transparent cost reporting so students understand what value they are getting out of their program.
But Ortagus cautions to be nuanced here.
“I don’t think online education is the boogeyman here,” he said.
“These findings are driven by for-profit four-years, and there certainly still could be a way that exclusively online programs could be a way to supplement the face-to-face experience,” he said.