A strong showing of numbers among online graduates and summer enrollments gets summer off to a good start.
Congratulations, graduates!
The May 2017 Commencement report included 1,345 online degrees awarded, a 25 percent increase from May 2016. Online graduates represented 80 counties in Indiana, 50 US states, and 16 different countries. The most frequently awarded online undergraduate degree was the Nursing RN to BSN, and most frequently awarded online graduate degree was the Kelley Direct MBA. The youngest online graduate received a BS in Psychology at 21 years old. Our oldest undergraduate received an online Bachelor of General Studies degree at the age of 67, while at the graduate level, a 68-year-old received an online Master of Social Work.
Fun in the Sun
Summer is a good time for students to progress toward graduation. Many are doing so through online classes. As of official census in summer 2016, 36 percent of total university credit hours (excluding Fort Wayne) were taken through some form of distance education, either asynchronous online classes or live synchronous distance video. At the regional campuses, this online percentage increased to 54 percent of total credit hours. As of June 5, summer 2017 online credit hour percentages remain just about the same as 2016, at 36.5 percent online university wide, and 53.5 percent online at the regional campuses.
Fall enrollments demonstrate a similar pattern, with higher online credit-hour percentages at the regionals. For fall 2017, almost 11 percent of university credit hours and just over 23 percent of regional campus credit hours are in distance education (DE) classes. In comparison, official fall 2016 DE credit hours were 10.2 percent university wide, and 19.3 percent at the regionals.