SEMO: Online courses enhance class offerings

Depending on whom you ask or what you read, online programs mean easier access to higher education -- or the end of brick-and-mortar colleges and universities, especially in these times of limited state funding.

For Southeast Missouri State University, online education falls into the former category, and it's helped the university reach students it might not otherwise. Provost Dr. Bill Eddleman said online courses and majors have become a key component of the school's offerings.

"It grows every year," he said.

A lot of students like the convenience. For others, it may be the only way to take a needed class.

Allen Gathman, associate dean for Online Learning at Southeast, said slightly more than half of students take online courses -- about 6,000. They include students who take all online courses, those who take one online course and everything in between, he said.

Typically in any given semester, Gathman said, about 1,000 students are taking online courses, and about 800 are pursuing online degrees. The latter may come to campus to talk to an adviser, or they may not come to campus at all, except for graduation, Gathman said.

"There are financial benefits to online courses for the university, because students are still paying fees and surcharges per credit hour to help with support services and technology," Gathman said, adding probably 80 percent of credit hours earned in the summer are from online classes.

The university offered its first online class in 1996 and its first online degree program in 2003. The student retention rate of online versus face-to-face is consistent, he said.

Eddleman said statistics show slightly less cheating online, although Gathman said there have been instances of people taking tests for others.

Southeast offers a significant number of blended courses -- a mixture of face-to-face and online, Eddelman said.

Gathman said the courses come in various formats. With lightly blended classes, 25 percent of instruction is online; moderately blended, 25 to 75 percent; and highly blended, anything from 75 to 99 percent.

The faculty members who design the courses decide how much will be online and how much in person.

"I don't think there's any danger of brick-and-mortar institutions disappearing," Gathman said.

"There's more to the experience of going to college than just attending class," he added, noting the social interaction.

Eddleman said the university partners with other schools in the state to offer online courses, which has benefited some of its programs, such as economics and physics.

For online success, students need more discipline than with face-to-face formats, because it's up to the students to fit it into their schedules, officials said.

Gathman said he didn't see online for-profits as significant.

He said they're typically more expensive than Southeast, whose direct competitors are other state institutions with robust online programs.

Southeast's advantages, he said, are its reputation, accreditations and online courses designed by the same faculty who teach the in-person versions.

Some of the companies that offer massive open online courses -- such as Coursera, a for-profit educational technology company -- may have 50,000 students in a class, but the attrition rate is "horrendous," as people are more likely to ask questions if they have a connection to a faculty member, Eddleman said.

Another challenge is getting institutions to accept credits for the courses.

Rebecca Summary, chairwoman of Southeast's Department of Economics and Finance, said in general, few universities will assign credit to these programs because of questions about whether a student has completed the work.

"I don't really think it's a substitute for a university like [Southeast Missouri State], unless they change the way those classes are administered," she said.

She added more scrutiny has been directed to for-profit universities on student completion and job placement.

The bottom line

Kathy Mangels, vice president for finance and administration, said students pay the same incidental fee rate for an online course as a face-to-face version, plus an additional online course fee, which will be $17 per credit hour this fall.

The additional revenue will help offset costs related to offering the classes, such as faculty developing the courses, IT infrastructure and student support, such as a 24-hour IT help desk.

Fees from online courses represented 14.8 percent of the university's on-campus total fee revenue for the fall 2013 semester, Mangels said in an email. Fee revenue from online courses was 8.5 percent in fall 2011, so there has been steady growth, Mangels wrote.

"Some of that is related to the university offering more completely online degree programs, which is beneficial to those individuals already working full-time who want to go back to school to get a degree, or active military personnel, as a couple [of] examples," Mangels wrote.

Free online courses and for-profit universities aren't a significant issue right now, she said.

"I don't think it's a serious concern for us now or the near future," Mangels wrote. "[They] are another method of making information available to people. Colleges and universities have a diverse student population, and there is not one method of instruction that meets everyone's needs. It's important that we offer different ways for an individual to access college courses, but just as important to ensure the quality of those courses."

Three Rivers College

Like Southeast, Three Rivers College has found online education has attracted more students.

"The increase in online classes has opened up enrollment for us. It makes it easier for students to take the classes they need, even if they're at a distance from (a) physical classroom or have a schedule that makes traditional classwork difficult. It also allows us to enroll students beyond what we'd have the capacity for in the physical classroom setting," media services coordinator Jonathan Atwood said in an email.

Three Rivers, too, has found competition from other online entities negligible.

"We've not had much competition," Atwood wrote. "Our online tuition is competitive with all the regional four-year universities, for one, and while there are plenty of free courses available online, ours provide transferable credit from an accredited institution, which makes us a prime choice for someone actually seeking a certificate or a degree."

By the numbers

Kim Wetter, head of marketing at SR Education Group in Kirkland, Washington, whose flagship site is Guide to Online Schools, said most people they talk to study online for specific reasons, such as getting ahead in their careers.

Nationwide, about 13.6 percent of students take at least one distance education course, and 12.8 percent are exclusively online, according to 2012 National Center for Education Statistics. The remaining 73.6 percent don't take any distance education courses.

Among four-year public institutions, 78.2 percent of students take no distance education courses, while 16.3 percent take one, and 5.5 percent are exclusively online, according to NCES.

Wetter said the move by companies to package courses for universities taught by top professors "didn't kick off way they thought it would." She said universities like to stand behind their own professors and programs.

Online classes appeal to members of the military and stay-at-home moms who may want to have a degree by the time their children leave home, Wetter said.

"A lot of online students ... generally know what they want a lot more than your traditional brick-and-mortar students," she said.

The Missouri Department of Higher Education reported for fall 2012 -- the first time such data were collected -- 448,193 students were enrolled in postsecondary distance learning education statewide.

Of those, 67,085 -- 15 percent -- were enrolled in some distance education, which could include online, CCTV, audio conferencing or other media.

Another 54,859 -- 12.2 percent -- were taking coursework exclusively via distance education.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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