We are often asked a good question: are online programs simply enrolling (some even say "stealing") students from our face-to-face programs? To answer this question, the Office of Online Education (OOE) examined the enrollment histories of almost 3,000 fall 2021 online bachelor's degree students. We then looked back at these student's prior history with IU to determine how many were new to the university and how many had simply switched from a face-to-face program. If they had switched, we sought to know why. The study showed:
- Overall, 64 percent of online bachelors students in fall 2021 were either brand new to an IU Online program, had received a prior AS or BS degree and were now back to complete another degree online, or were returning students who started online and remained online throughout their academic career.
- Students who did switch from on-campus to online programs included the following:
- The largest group, 22 percent, returned to IU Online after gaps in enrollment. Typically, these students stop out because their life circumstances change, and they have a high probability of not completing their degree through their original IU program.
- 9 percent switched to an online program but stayed at the same campus. This group could include changes related to COVID, plus adjustments in coding data. Almost all of these were regional campus students who were able to find an online option in one of the new online collaborative degrees, such as the BSBA, BS in Applied Health Sciences, or BS in Informatics.
- 5 percent switched to an online program at a different campus. Most of these were IUB and IUPUI students moving to an online degree unavailable at their home campus.
For the 22 percent who stopped out, IU Online provided a path to degree completion, offering the flexibility to tailor programs and fit studies in around other lifestyle commitments. Prior studies confirm that students in online programs need flexibility and convenience. For the 14 percent who switched to online at the same or a different campus, the online option provided a way to continue their studies at IU. In other words, online programs preserved enrollments at IU and prevented students from going to one of the increasing number of online competitors.
So to answer the question posed to us, these findings indicate that rather than siphoning students away from in-person programs, online programs often attract new students to IU or retain students who might have gone elsewhere or simply stopped pursuing their degree.