In 2020–21, COVID introduced huge numbers of faculty and students to online education. Faculty who had no exposure to online education before the pandemic have now had a full year—perhaps four semesters—of adjusting to online learning, getting better at it, and experiencing its potential.
Even as students return to campus, we continue to see growth in online enrollments. IU has once again set a record: 8,224 students are now enrolled in fall IU Online programs, a 10.5 percent increase over fall 2020. This population represents 9 percent of IU's total enrollment, up from 8 percent last year. Of these students, 1,519 are enrolled in collaborative programs, a 24 percent increase over last year's number. Given the challenges several campuses in Indiana are experiencing this fall within and outside of IU—this strong growth is quite an accomplishment.
It's great to see students enjoying our campuses and filling our classrooms again. While this is good to see, it also obscures some important statistics regarding online education. Now, for example, more than half of IU's students (54.9 percent) are enrolled in at least one online course. While this is far from what we saw during the last academic year, it is 20 percentage points higher than the pre-pandemic, fall 2019 rate of 34.4 percent. It's also clear that despite the fatigue some students and faculty have expressed with remote learning and physical distancing, they are relying on online education to support their educational goals—regardless of the modality of the academic program.
In addition, online credit hours now account for 22.6 percent of all credit hours at the university. At the regionals, this proportion is nearly double, with 42.6 percent of credit hours coming from online courses. If we consider the credit hour the "currency" of higher education, online education is an important contributor to the financial health of our campuses.
Finally, with 204 online programs in fall 2021, including 38 collaboratives, these numbers will continue to grow in future semesters. IU Online is poised to continue its tradition of being a strong contributor to the success of IU's campuses.
In this issue, we're highlighting some of the great work that's been done.
The growth in online enrollments is in no small part due to the hard work, dedication, and leadership of IU faculty and staff. Despite the fear, uncertainty, sacrifice, and complications of the past year, the IU community has proven a strong contributor to the success portrayed in these numbers; for behind each number is a student—a student who most likely struggled with many of the challenges we faced, a student who needed not only access to excellent online education, but to support and flexibility from the faculty and staff they worked with. I hope you understand that you are a part of helping these students, contributing to their success and to their progress in achieving their life plans. Our thanks for all you have done and will continue to do for our students and IU!