An ITC study

Released on Tuesday by the Instructional Technology Council, the 2010 survey called  “Trends in eLearning: Tracking the impact of eLearning at Community Colleges” measured the impact of several developments on the distance and online education field.

Specifically, the study recognized the ongoing economic downturn and “relevant regulatory and legislative activity” as two forces behind the 9 percent increase, an amount higher than the 7 percent overall increase in student enrollment at all higher education institutions.

Legislative measures affect online learning

In the past year, legislature has given states authorization to offer distance education to out-of-state students, increased scrutiny of for-profit higher education institutions, released the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program, passed the TAA Community College and Career Training Grants Program and the Department of Education’s National Education Technology Plan.

Additionally, Congress passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act in 2008, requiring institutions that offer distance education to “have processes in place through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the course or program and receives the academic credit.”

All of these legislative actions have helped to increase the validity and build credibility for online education, which has been doubted in the past by more traditional universities.

Other contributors to the increase

Of those who were surveyed, 39 percent identified typical growth in distance education as the reason for the increase in distance education, while 37 percent identified the downturn in the economy and 12 percent identified the new enrollment initiative as the reason.

More than 95 percent of the survey respondents identified themselves as associate’s colleges or an associate’s dominant college.

Opposing Sloan Consortium report statistics

The report for the study compared results from the Sloan Consortium report, which listed a 21 percent growth in distance learning enrollments. However, the Sloan study reviewed the academic year 2008-09 and included public, private, for-profit and two- and four-year institutions, while the ITC study only surveyed public community colleges in the 2009-10 school year.

The ITC study also included statistics on non-credit offerings. Seventy-three percent of the campuses included in the study reported to be offering non-credit online classes, which is a 9 percent increase from last year’s survey.

Conductors of the survey say this increase may have been influenced by the national economy, as well as the increased use of non-credit courses for specific skill training.

Administrator frustrations

Including community college administrators in the survey, the ITC study revealed many concerns and frustrations regarding distance education.

One unknown survey responded was quoted in the survey report saying, “The inability to have the authority to manage the program remains my primary frustration. Decisions are made affecting offerings without my knowledge and decisions are being made without an adequate understanding of the situation. I think all distance education administrators eventually ‘hit the wall’ since their organizations continue to refuse to adapt to the new reality.”

Understandably, then, the survey has tracked a steady decline in administrator confidence over the accessibility of online classes over the duration of the past three years.

Under these agreements, community colleges are often able to offer the university's courses on their own campus, which allows students to stay closer to home while they take the next step in their education.

For example, Ashford University, which is an online school, recently entered an articulation agreement with Luna Community College (LCC). The New Mexico-based two-year school seeks to help students graduate from LCC with an associates degree and then seamlessly transfer to a bachelors degree program at the university.

School officials said that LCC offers programs such as nursing, business, technology, construction and law enforcement. Moreover, educators are now urging students to continue their education at Ashford after they graduate.

Officials added that the agreement allows LCC students to transfer up to 90 credits toward a bachelors degree at Ashford University.

"LCC is an educational fixture in New Mexico. With the opportunity for a four-year Ashford degree, their students can begin their advanced education locally and finish at a fine four-year school." said Mark K. Young, Ashford's director of Academic Partnerships.

HCCC and an online school agree to allow students to seamlessly transfer to bachelors degree program

In an effort to help New York students graduate with bachelors degrees, Herkimer County Community College and Empire State College, recently announced that they have reached a partnership to enable students to earn a four-year degree after graduating from HCCC's associates program, the Herkimer Telegram reports.

Officials told the news source that they have named the agreement the Pathways Transfer Program. This is designed to help HCCC students transition from classroom-based learning to the College's online format, which has a mix of independent studies and residencies.

“This agreement broadens access and opportunity for our students who want to continue their education and earn a bachelor’s degree,” Ann Murray, HCCC president, told the news source. “The Pathways Transfer Program is a wonderful program for students who need the flexibility to be able to manage their courses anytime, anywhere.”

The agreement allows HCCC students to transfer all the credits they have earned to a bachelor's degree program at Empire State College. Furthermore, graduates may take an additional 16 credits on the HCCC campus to help them transition to upper-division courses at the four-year school.

Demand for human services delivery professionals prompts transfer agreement between Georgia schools

However, other schools are targeting specific programs that are part of a articulation agreement between two institution, such as one deal between a Gainesville State College (GSC) and Georgia Perimeter College.

School officials recently inked a deal that will allow students from Georgia Perimeter College's sign language interpreting program to transfer to GSC, news station WDUN reports.

They added that the agreement will begin in the fall 2011 semester, through which participating students will earn both an associates degree from Georgia Perimeter College and a bachelors degree in human services delivery administration from GSC. The four-year program will aim to prepare students for careers with government agencies, social service providers, business and nonprofit organizations.

"This program addresses demand in the region to produce trained professionals to serve growing community needs," Jessica Ziembroski, assistant professor of sociology at GSC, told the news source. "In addition, it provides students with an excellent and affordable degree that has broad applicability in terms of career options."

The proposal would bring oversight of the Connecticut State University Systems' four regional universities, the 12 state-funded community colleges and Charter Oak State College under the existing Department of Higher Education. These institutions will also be part of the newly-created Board of Regents.

The proposals aim to decrease costs against the state budget and to increase enrollment at both traditional and online schools in the region. Officials added that these restructurings are becoming more popular because they can minimize wasteful spending in higher education and reorganize how students transfer from one institution to another.

"We have to push forward with these consolidations," Malloy told the news provider. "We have got to make them work. They have to lead to a creation of efficiencies."

According to a 2009 Reuters report, the online education industry grew by 17 percent. Furthermore, the sector had been growing at a rate of approximately 20 percent annually in previous years.