New federal regulations could slow enrollment
Of more than 2,500 colleges surveyed, about 5.6 million students — one in three — were enrolled in one or more online courses in fall 2009, the highest year-to-year jump in the annual Sloan Survey of Online Learning’s history. While online enrollments grew by 21 percent, the higher education population increased just 2 percent.
The report broke down colleges as public, nonprofit private, or for-profit private schools.
Almost two-thirds of for-profit colleges said that online learning is “a critical part” of their long-term strategy. They were more likely to say teachers received “no specific training” for online instruction, and most likely to say that faculty found “value and legitimacy” in online education.
“This is the first year that nonprofit and for-profit institutions differed so much across dimensions — attitudes, beliefs and practices, it showed up over and over again,” said Jeff Seaman, co-director of the Babson Survey Research Group, which administers the study.
Nearly 60 percent of for-profit schools said their budget increased this year, compared with less than 13 percent of public schools — rather, more than 68 percent saw their budgets shrink, alongside 45 percent of nonprofit private schools.
But the growth of online courses is threatened by new regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Education that would make for-profit colleges prove “gainful employment” for its graduates, Seaman said.
For-profit colleges have come under intense scrutiny after a federal probe discovered misleading recruiting practices and, in some instances, encouragement to forge federal aid applications to qualify for Pell Grants; for-profits received $24 billion in federal loans and grants last year.
Kaplan University recruiters reportedly invoke the name of its parent company — the Washington Post Co. — and its board members, including Warren Buffett and Melinda Gates, to earn potential students’ trust. Last week, Gates resigned from her post. Of Kaplan’s 75,000 students, more than 68,000 take online courses exclusively. Just 30 percent of two-year students and 33 percent of four-year students graduate from Kaplan University.
