TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Online-Class Enrollment Accelerates Into Fall

ADVERTISEMENT

By ADAM EMERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 27, 2008

Updated: 07/27/2008 12:44 am

TAMPA - Call it the Summer of the Virtual Classroom.

Years of growth in online education at Florida's colleges and universities have led to unprecedented spikes in enrollment this summer, and the momentum is building faster for the fall.

Administrators say the high cost of gas is driving some interest to take classes over the Internet, but they note they now offer a greater array of courses that are more interactive than in years past.

Some schools are adding dozens more online course sections in subjects that vary from sociology to biology, and students are rushing to fill them, particularly as it becomes harder to find classroom space in schools cutting back their budgets.

"I don't think HCC has yet reached our potential for distance-learning demand," said Chad Hyatt, director of instructional technology at Hillsborough Community College, where online enrollment this summer increased 36 percent from last year.

While he won't attribute the spike solely to $4-a-gallon gas, Hyatt notes that summer enrollment in HCC's online classes typically increases only 8 percent each year.

The community college has campuses throughout Hillsborough County, but draws working students who wind up driving miles between school, work and home.

Roberta Charles, for instance, lives in Riverview and works full-time at a Tampa pharmacy, but is studying at HCC's Brandon campus to become a pharmacist.

Her work schedule made the online public speaking course she's taking this summer more appealing because of its convenience, but she notes that she'd spend hundreds on gas driving countywide all semester.

"For a lot of people, it's definitely because of the gas," said Charles, 33, talking about the interest in online education. "I'm spending so much on gas, but it has to be done."

Even if gas were cheaper, however, there still would be more students choosing online courses, administrators say. Growth at nearly all the state's schools has been steady for the past five years, and it doesn't show signs of slowing.

A Push For More

Florida's colleges and universities, both public and private, have made a stronger push to enhance their online education offerings. As the burgeoning demand for higher education heightened in recent years, administrators found the Internet freed them from having to build expensive classroom space.

But there were simple beginnings. Five years ago, most Web-based courses consisted of an instructor talking before a video camera. Now, students can expect more of a multimedia experience in some subjects.

What better way, administrators say, to produce a biology course than by showcasing an interactive video of a human cell.

"They're actually more interactive than I thought they would be," said Brian Mendendez, 19, of the two online classes he's taking this summer at the University of South Florida.

USF, for one, is working to provide more than just a talking head in its online curriculum.

In the past, colleges and universities experimenting with online education thought more about providing convenience for students, said Lagretta Lenker, who directs USF's efforts to coordinate distance-learning initiatives. Fewer stopped to ask whether they were delivering high-quality instruction.

These days, however, "I think we're moving in the distance-education business from student access to student success," Lenker said. "With the new services, we think we can build a better experience."

But USF and others say they could offer more.

The number of USF students taking at least one online course has increased 80 percent over the past five years to nearly 17,000, according to university figures. Many took more than one and brought total enrollment to 70,000 in more than 1,700 course sections.

The Need To Expand

There aren't many online degree programs available to USF students, however. Students can complete whole semesters online, but few can earn all the credits they need to graduate.

Administrators are trying to change that at a time when the university is cutting $50.4 million from its budget. The soured economy and loss of state money have cost USF about 450 jobs and a broader array of course sections.

Online courses require no new classrooms, a reality that especially benefits Florida's community colleges. Schools such as HCC have an open-door policy and are dealing with an influx of new students rejected from a state university system that can't afford them.

But the expansion doesn't come cheaply, and some costs are passed on to students.

USF trustees, for instance, just approved a $35-per-credit-hour fee that undergraduate students will have to pay for online courses. Graduate students will pay $50 per credit hour.

Such a standardized fee will "provide more student support services," Lenker said. It hasn't dampened interest in registration for online courses this fall. While she says it's too soon to say how high enrollment will reach, "it'll be a good increase," she said.

Registrations at HCC also are up. The number of students picking online courses for the fall is up about 23 percent from this time last year, Hyatt said.

And demand will only grow.

"I would expect that we, like other institutions, will see some increase in online enrollment in response to fuel prices," said Joel Hartman, a vice provost at the University of Central Florida, where the number of students taking online courses this summer is up 28 percent from three years ago.

Fuel prices are only part of that, though. Few schools have seen dips year-to-year in online course enrollment. Every year's increase gets bigger than the year before.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT