U.S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

Distance Education in Higher Education Institutions:

Incidence, Audiences, and Plans to Expand

February 1998

Distance education is emerging as an increasingly important component of

higher education. For example, the Education Network of Maine, an

independent arm of the Maine university system, televises college courses to

11 regional centers and other sites throughout the state, making available 85

courses and 14 degree programs which, in the fall of 1995, served about 2,900

students (Chronicle of Higher Education, May 31, 1996). Other university

system and state networks for distance education include Colorado Electronic

Community College, EdNet in Oregon, the Iowa Communications Network,

the TeleLinking Network in Kentucky, and BadgerNet in Wisconsin.

Cooperatives and consortia which cross state lines include the Western

Governors University, a “virtual university” sponsored by the governors of 15

states (and one U.S. territory), and the Committee on Institutional Cooperation,

which consists of 12 large universities, including Pennsylvania State

University, the University of Iowa, Ohio State University, the University of

Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Illinois

(Chronicle of Higher Education, December 8, 1995).

These examples highlight the growing importance of distance education, but

do not provide information about distance education on a national scale. To fill

this information need, in 1995 the National Center for Education Statistics

conducted a Survey on Distance Education Courses Offered by Higher

Education Institutions, using the Postsecondary Education Quick Information

System (PEQIS). For the study, distance education was defined as “education

or training courses delivered to remote (off-campus) locations via audio, video,

or computer technologies.”

What Types of Institutions Offer Distance Education

Courses?

In fall 1995 a third of the institutions offered distance education courses,

another quarter planned to offer such courses in the next 3 years, and 42

percent did not offer, and did not plan to offer, such courses in the next 3 years.

A much greater percentage of public than of private institutions offered

distance education courses: 58 percent of public 2-year and 62 percent of

public 4-year institutions, compared with 2 percent of private 2-year and 12

percent of private 4-year institutions. The percent of institutions offering

distance education courses also varied by institutional size and geographic

region, with fewer small institutions and fewer institutions in the Northeast

offering distance education (table 1).

How Extensive Are Distance Education Course Offerings?

In academic year 1994–95, an estimated 25,730 distance education courses

with different catalog numbers were offered by higher education institutions.

Of these, 45 percent were offered by public 4-year institutions, 39 percent by

public 2-year institutions, and 16 percent by private 4-year institutions. (Data

for private 2-year institutions are not reported separately on this measure

because there were too few such institutions offering distance education

courses in the sample.) About half the institutions that offered distance

education courses in fall 1995 offered 10 or fewer courses in academic year

1994–95, with 24 percent offering 1 to 4 courses and 21 percent offering 5 to

10 courses (figure 1).

Table 1.—Percentage distribution of higher education institutions, by

current and planned use of distance education: 1995

Institutional

characteristics

Currently

offering

distance

education

courses

Planning to

begin offering

distance education

courses in the next

3 years

No plans to

offer distance

education

courses in the

next 3 years

All institutions 33 25 42

Institutional type

 Public 2-year 58 28 14

 Private 2-year 2 14 84

 Public 4-year 62 23 14

 Private 4-year 12 27 61

Geographic region

 Northeast 20 27 53

 Southeast 31 28 41

 Central 39 24 37

 West 40 23 37

Enrollment

 Less than 3,000 16 27 56

 3,000 to 9,999 61 24 15

 10,000 or more 76 14 10

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto

Rico. Percents may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary

Education Quick Information System, Survey on Distance Education Courses Offered by Higher

Education Institutions, 1995.

Figure 1.—Percentage distribution of numbers of distance education

courses offered by higher education institutions in

academic year 1994–95

*Approximately 4 percent of the institutions offered distance education courses in fall 1995, but did not

offer such courses in academic year 1994–95.

NOTE: Data for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto

Rico. Percents are based on institutions that offered distance education courses in fall 1995.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary

Education Quick Information System, Survey on Distance Education Courses Offered by Higher

Education Institutions, 1995.

ISSUE

BRIEF

No 

courses*

4 %

1 to 4 

courses

24%

5 to 10 

courses

21%

11 to 25 

courses

25%

More than 

25 courses

26%
Issue Briefs present information on education topics of current interest. This Issue Brief was prepared by Bernard Greene, National Center for Education Statistics,

Data Development and Longitudinal Studies Group, and Anne Meek, Education Statistics Services Institutes. For information, contact Bernard Greene at (202) 219-

1366 or at Bernard_Greene@ed.gov. To order additional copies of this Issue Brief or other NCES publications, call 1-800-424-1616. NCES publications are also

available on the Internet at http://www.nces.ed.gov/.

NCES 98–132

How Many Students and What Audiences Are Served by

Distance Education Courses?

Out of about 14.3 million students enrolled in higher education institutions in

fall 1994, about 758,640 students1 formally enrolled in distance education

courses in academic year 1994–95. Undergraduate and graduate students were

seen as target audiences more than other types of students (figure 2). Eightyone percent of institutions reported offering courses designed primarily for

undergraduate students; 34 percent, for graduate students. Thirteen percent

offered courses designed primarily for students in professional continuing

education, and 6 percent or fewer offered courses designed primarily for each

of the following: elementary/secondary students, adult basic education

students, other continuing education students, and other types of students.

Figure 2.—Percent of higher education institutions currently offering

distance education that offer distance education courses

designed primarily for specific types of students: 1995

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto

Rico. The numbers of courses designed for various types of students are for fall 1995. Percents are

based on institutions that offered distance education courses in fall 1995. Percents sum to more than

100 because an institution can offer different courses designed primarily for different types of students.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary

Education Quick Information System, Survey on Distance Education Courses Offered by Higher

Education Institutions, 1995.

Among potential audiences for distance education courses, professionals

seeking recertification and other workers seeking skill updating or retraining

were targeted by more institutions than were other types of individuals. Thirtynine percent of institutions targeted professionals seeking recertification, and

49 percent targeted other workers seeking skill updating or retraining. Sixteen

percent targeted individuals with disabilities, and 12 percent targeted military

personnel. Non-English-speaking individuals and Native Americans/Alaskan

Natives on tribal lands were targeted by 3 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

What Technologies Are Currently in Use and Are Planned

for the Next Three Years?

Of the institutions offering distance education courses in fall 1995, 57 percent

used two-way interactive video and 52 percent used one-way prerecorded

video to deliver courses (table 2). About a quarter of the institutions used twoway audio with one-way video, as well as computer-based technologies other

than two-way online interactions during instruction (for example, the Internet).

Each of the other technologies was used by 14 percent or fewer of the

institutions.

About three-quarters of the institutions that currently offer, or plan to offer,

distance education courses expect to start or increase their use of two-way

 

1

If a student was enrolled in more than one course, institutions were instructed to count

the student for each course in which he or she was enrolled. Thus, the overall number

contains duplications.

interactive video, two-way online (computer-based) interactions during

instruction, and other computer-based technologies to deliver their distance

education courses in the next 3 years (table 2). Fewer institutions had plans to

start or increase their use of the other technologies, ranging from 8 percent

planning to start or increase their use of audiographics to 49 percent planning

to start or increase their use of one-way prerecorded video.

Table 2.—Percent of higher education institutions using various

types of technologies to deliver distance education

courses currently, and plans for use in the next 3 years by

level of use: 1995

Currently use Plan to use in the next 3 years2

Type of technology

Percent of

institutions1

Reduce or

keep the

same number

of courses

Start or

increase

number of

courses

No

plans

Two-way

interactive video 57 2 79 19

Two-way audio,

one-way video 24 7 35 58

One-way live video 9 6 28 66

One-way prerecorded video 52 8 49 43

Audiographics 3 3 8 89

Two-way audio 11 6 20 75

One-way audio 10 6 11 83

Two-way online

interactions 14 (+) 71 29

Other computerbased technology 22 1 79 20

(+) Less than 0.5 percent.

1Percentages are based on the number of all institutions that offered distance education courses in fall

1995. Percents sum to more than 100 because an institution can use more than one type of

technology.

2

For plans, percents are computed across each row, but may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

Percents are based on all institutions currently offering or planning to offer distance education courses

in the next 3 years.

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto

Rico.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary

Education Quick Information System, Survey on Distance Education Courses Offered by Higher

Education Institutions, 1995.

What Factors Keep Institutions from Starting or Expanding

Distance Education Courses?

Among the factors frequently reported as keeping institutions from starting or

expanding their distance education course offerings to a “major extent” were

program development costs (43 percent), limited technological infrastructure

(31 percent), and equipment failures and costs of maintaining equipment (23

percent). Factors seen as “not at all” a deterrent included inability to obtain

state authorization (79 percent); restrictive federal, state, or local policies

(58 percent); legal concerns (57 percent); lack of support from administrators

(60 percent); and lack of fit with the institution’s mission (58 percent).

Future Plans

NCES plans to conduct another PEQIS survey on distance education in the

near future. The questionnaire will contain some of the same items to establish

trend data and other new items in order to gather data on distance education

issues not covered in this survey.

Reference:

U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics.

Distance Education in Higher Education Institutions, NCES 98–062, by

Laurie Lewis, Debbie Alexander, and Elizabeth Farris. Project Officer,

Bernard Greene. Washington, DC: 1997.

81%

34%

13%

6%

6%

2%

2%

Undergraduate

Graduate

Professional continuing

education

Other continuing

education

Elementary/secondary

Adult basic education

Other

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Percent