Student Demand for Distance Education Courses in Accounting

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that drive demand for distance education (DE) courses in accounting. Using a survey, data were collected from seventy-three accounting students regarding their satisfaction with distance education, perceptions of DE, demographic characteristics and their desire to take a DE course in accounting. We found that demand increases for full-time students, students who are further along in their education (graduate students), and for those who are more satisfied with their previous DE experiences. We also find perceptions of DE increase student demand for DE. Students with positive attitudes towards DE and those who recognized the time management benefits of DE had a higher demand for DE in accounting. Interestingly, marital status, whether individuals have children, number of hours worked, or distance living from campus had little impact on demand. Key words: distance education, accounting curriculum, online courses Data availability: The data from this study are available from the first author upon request. INTRODUCTION Distance education (DE) has changed considerably in the past decade with changes in available technology. Historically, taking classes outside of traditional bricks-and-mortar institutions meant correspondence or televised courses. The advent of asynchronous (instructor and student not present at the same time), internet-based courses has expanded the possibilities of distance education to overcome any time or location hurdles faced by students. In fact, the Department of Education reported that 56% of all two-year and four-year institutions offered DE courses during the 2000-01 academic year (U.S. Dept. of Education, 2003). Moreover, over 200 universities currently offer online accounting coursework (Bryant et al., 2005). With all these changes come opportunities for both students and universities. Students can now take their entire degree program online, take a few DE classes as part of a more traditional degree program, or take all their courses in the traditional manner of attending classes at a brick-and-mortar institution. In the same vein, universities can offer entire programs, select classes or no classes as distance education offerings. Historically, for-profit educational institutions took the lead in offering distance education as full degree programs. However, administrators at more traditional universities have realized that they can capitalize on their advantages - quality education at affordable prices - and capture more of the online education market from for-profit institutions. Traditional universities also offer a brand name and access to quality faculty which appeals to many students. For a university to go from offering no distance education courses to offering a full online program is a significant leap. Clearly the technology is sufficient for DE to be successful, so it is really a question of to what degree DE will be employed at any particular institution. To better understand their place in distance education, business schools and individual departments within them need to understand the student demand for distance education. The advent and success of for-profit institutions that offer entire online distance education programs to students provides some evidence of demand for programs that are entirely online. This in fact may attract new students who might otherwise not choose to attend a traditional school. However, not all students may want to take entire degree programs without stepping foot into a classroom. Schell (2001) surveys students in DE courses across the curriculum and finds only 12% have a strong preference to take as many classes as possible through distance education. However, he does find another 31% agree that they would like to take some DE classes, suggesting students may need or desire some combination of DE and traditional courses to balance their varied commitments. …