Understanding and Engaging Today's Online College Student
Concurrent Session 5
Brief Abstract
No longer a niche audience, online college students are a growing - and increasingly critical – segment of the overall student population. Understand the demands and preferences of today's online college students, and how they have changed over the past decade.
Presenters
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Extended Abstract
The online college student landscape has undergone massive changes in the past several years. This presentation explores many of the changes we are experiencing and codifies trends that have been in place for several years.
Over the past decade, EducationDynamics has surveyed online college students to understand student needs and motivations, and monitor how that is changing over time. We will explore these changes, discuss unexpected findings from our 2022 Online College Students Report, and look at where the trends are likely heading over the next few years.
Looking back at data from our 2017 report as a comparison benchmark, we will discuss five key areas of change and growth over the past five years:
• How students view the value and efficacy of online learning.
• How the demographics are shifting in who studies online.
• How students view non-degree credentials, micro-credentials and certificates – and the role they will play in the future workforce.
• How COVID-19 influenced online program enrollment, but short-term and long-term.
• How schools can attract and retain more students with messaging and service that resonates with these students.
This session is based on the 2022 Online College Students Report, a survey of online students authored by Carol Aslanian and published by EducationDynamics. Gain the insight needed to understand and better engage prospective online college students. As the overall outlook for online education has significantly improved over the past decade, more colleges and universities are investing heavily in building out online program offerings, leading to more options for students. With online education now taking its place in the forefront of the minds of students and educators alike, it is more important than ever for the leaders of online higher education to fully understand the demands and preferences of the students that hope to attract to their programs.