NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

Statistical Analysis Report December 1999

Distance Education at

Postsecondary Education

Institutions: 1997-98

Laurie Lewis

Kyle Snow

Elizabeth Farris

Westat

Douglas Levin

American Institutes for Research

Bernie Greene

Project Officer

National Center for Education Statistics

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 2000-013
U.S. Department of Education

Richard W. Riley

Secretary

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

C. Kent McGuire

Assistant Secretary

National Center for Education Statistics

Gary W. Phillips

Acting Commissioner

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing,

and reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfills a congressional

mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report full and complete statistics on the condition of education in

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December 1999

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Suggested Citation

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Distance Education at

Postsecondary Education Institutions: 1997-98. NCES 2000-013, by Laurie Lewis, Kyle Snow, Elizabeth

Farris, Douglas Levin. Bernie Greene, project officer. Washington, DC: 1999.

For ordering information on this report, write

U.S. Department of Education

ED Pubs

P.O. Box 1398

Jessup, MD 20794-1398

or by calling toll free 1-877-4ED-Pubs.

Content Contact:

Bernie Greene

(202) 219-1366
iii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Many see the rise in the availability of

technology-supported distance education—that is,

the delivery of instruction over a distance to

individuals located in one or more venues—not

only as a revolutionary opportunity to increase

access to postsecondary education, but also as an

opportunity to hasten the overall pace of reform

in higher education (Ehrmann n.d.). In contrast to

the institutional status quo, what was once an

eclectic assortment of individually accessed,

noncredit educational courses is quickly being

knit into comprehensive degree- and certificategranting programs (Phipps, Wellman, and

Merisotis 1998). Indeed, if a recent article in The

Chronicle of Higher Education (April 9, 1999,

A27) is any indication, the distance education

industry is thriving: “For an industry that barely

existed three years ago, the level of activity is

dizzying.”

This report presents findings from the second

nationally representative survey of distance

education undertaken by the National Center for

Education Statistics (NCES). This survey was

conducted in winter 1998–99, and collected

information about the 12-month 1997–98

academic year. The first report, Distance

Education in Higher Education Institutions (U.S.

Department of Education 1997) was based on

data from a 1995 NCES Postsecondary Education

Quick Information System (PEQIS) survey of

higher education institutions. The current report

updates and expands upon the findings from the

previous report in several important ways.

Perhaps most significantly, the current survey

expands the universe of institutions from which it

collected data, from higher education institutions

to all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary institutions. In addition, this report also presents new

information about fields of study and instructional

levels of courses and programs offered through

distance education, as well as information about

how tuition and fees charged for distance

education courses compare to those charged for

on-campus courses. Finally, this report also

provides trend information for higher education

institutions, including changes in the percentage

of higher education institutions offering distance

education courses, enrollments and course

offerings, degree and certificate programs, as well

as technologies used to deliver distance education

courses.

Key Findings

Institutions and Enrollments

Evidence suggests that distance education is

becoming an increasingly visible feature of

postsecondary education in this country. This

report provides descriptive information about all

2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions that offered distance education in

1997–98, including enrollments in distance

education courses at those institutions. Analyses

of institutions and enrollments are presented by

institutional type and size. Information is also

included about enrollments by the level of course

offerings (undergraduate or graduate/firstprofessional). Results of the 1997–98 PEQIS

survey indicate that:

• About one-third of the nation's 2-year and 4-

year postsecondary education institutions

offered any distance education courses during

the 12-month 1997–98 academic year, and

another one-fifth of the institutions planned to

start offering such courses within the next 3

years. About half of the postsecondary

institutions did not offer and did not plan to

offer distance education courses in the next 3

years (table 2).

• Distance education was more likely to be

conducted by public institutions; 78 percent

of public 4-year institutions and 62 percent of

public 2-year institutions offered distance

education courses, compared with 19 percent

of private 4-year and 5 percent of private 2-
iv

year institutions. Distance education was also

strongly related to institutional size; distance

education courses were more likely to be

offered by medium and large institutions than

by small institutions (table 2).

• There were an estimated 1,661,100

enrollments1

 in all distance education courses,

and 1,363,670 enrollments in college-level,

credit-granting distance education courses,

with most of these at the undergraduate level

(table 5). About half of the institutions that

reported offering distance education courses

in 1997–98 reported 300 or fewer enrollments

in those courses (figure 1).

Course Offerings

Comprehensive information about the courses

available through distance education and

enrollments in those courses has not been widely

available. To address this gap in the knowledge

base, this report provides information about total

courses and college-level, credit-granting courses

offered through distance education by all

postsecondary institutions. Analyses of course

offerings are presented by institutional type,

general field of study, and instructional level of

the course (undergraduate or graduate/firstprofessional). According to the 1997–98 PEQIS

survey:

• An estimated 54,470 different distance

education courses2

 were offered, most of

which were college-level, credit-granting

courses (49,690) (table 6). About half of the

institutions that offered distance education

courses in 1997–98 offered 15 or fewer

different distance education courses, with 23

percent offering 1 to 5 courses (figure 2).

Public 2-year and 4-year institutions

 

1

 If a student was enrolled in multiple courses, institutions were

instructed to count the student for each course in which he or she

was enrolled. Thus, enrollments may include duplicated counts of

students.

2

 If a course had multiple sections or was offered multiple times

during the academic year, institutions were instructed to count it as

only one course.

combined offered about 8 out of 10 of the

distance education courses offered (table 6).

• The two fields in which more institutions that

offered distance education courses offered

college-level, credit-granting distance education courses were the general field of English,

humanities, and the social and behavioral

sciences (70 percent of institutions) and the

field of business and management (55 percent

of institutions) (table 7).

• The general pattern was for institutions to

offer for-credit distance education courses

more at the undergraduate than at the

graduate/first-professional level. The exceptions were in the fields of education,

engineering, and library and information

sciences, where more college-level, creditgranting distance education courses were

offered at the graduate/first-professional level

than at the undergraduate level (table 7).

Degree and Certificate Programs

While taking individual courses through distance

education has the potential to increase access to

postsecondary education among those who

traditionally have not had access, it is the

possibility of completing degree and certificate

programs solely through distance education that

offers the potential for the most dramatic changes

in access and opportunity. This report presents

information about the prevalence of distance

education degree and certificate programs in all

postsecondary institutions by institutional type,

level of the degree and certificate programs, and

general field of study. The 1997–98 PEQIS

survey indicates that:

• Eight percent of all 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary institutions offered collegelevel degree or certificate programs that were

designed to be completed totally through

distance education. Among the 34 percent of

institutions that offered any distance

education courses in 1997–98, 25 percent

offered distance education degrees or

certificates. Among all postsecondary

institutions, public 4-year institutions were

more likely than other types of institutions to
v

offer distance education degree and certificate

programs (table 13).

• In 1997–98, 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

institutions offered an estimated 1,230

distance education degree programs and 340

distance education certificate programs (table

15). Postsecondary institutions offering

distance education programs were more likely

to offer graduate/first-professional degrees or

certificates than undergraduate degrees or

certificates (table 15). Graduate/firstprofessional degree programs were most

likely to be offered in business and management, the health professions, education, and

engineering (table 14).

Distance Education Technologies Employed

Changes in the types of technologies available for

delivering distance education, including changes

in the capabilities of networking technology and

the rise of the Internet, have played a role in the

adoption of distance education by postsecondary

institutions. This report provides information

about the types of technologies employed by all

postsecondary institutions to deliver distance

education in 1997–98. To provide insight into the

dynamic nature of distance education technologies, the report also includes information

about institutions’ plans for the use of different

technologies in the next 3 years. According to the

1997–98 PEQIS survey:

• While postsecondary education institutions

employed a wide variety of distance

education technologies during 1997–98, more

institutions that offered distance education

courses were likely to use several types of

video technologies and the Internet-based

technologies than any other modes of

delivery included in the survey. Specifically,

asynchronous Internet instruction, two-way

interactive video, and one-way prerecorded

video were used by more institutions than any

other distance education technologies (table

17).

• Two-way interactive video was more likely to

be used by public 4-year institutions (80

percent) than by any other type of institution,

and by public 2-year institutions (53 percent)

more than private 4-year institutions (29

percent). One-way prerecorded video was

more likely to be used by public 2-year

institutions (62 percent) than by either public

or private 4-year institutions, and by public 4-

year institutions (44 percent) more often than

by private 4-year institutions (26 percent).

The Internet technologies, however, were

generally about equally likely to be used by

the various types of institutions, ranging from

16 percent to 22 percent for synchronous

Internet instruction, and from 57 percent to

61 percent for asynchronous Internet

instruction (table 17).

• Institutions that offered distance education in

1997–98 or that planned to offer distance

education in the next 3 years reported that

they planned to start using or increase their

use of Internet-based technologies and twoway interactive video in the next 3 years

more than any other types of technologies.

This suggests that Internet and interactive

video technologies will be a growing mode of

delivery among postsecondary institutions

(table 18).

Tuition and Fees

While distance education can be seen as a cost

savings approach to providing postsecondary

education, the costs in developing, implementing,

and delivering distance education courses can

also be substantial. One might expect that

institutions might pass these costs or cost savings

on by charging different tuition and fees to

students enrolled in distance education courses.

To examine this issue, this report provides

information about how tuition and fees for

distance education courses compare to those for

traditional campus-based courses. Analyses are

presented by institutional type. Findings from the

1997–98 PEQIS survey indicate that:

• About three-quarters of institutions that

offered any distance education courses in

1997–98 charged the same tuition for these

courses as for comparable on-campus

courses. Public 2-year institutions were more
vi

likely than public or private 4-year institutions to indicate that tuition charges were

always the same for distance education and

on-campus courses, with 90 percent of public

2-year institutions giving this response (table

20).

• Two-thirds of institutions offering distance

education courses in 1997–98 reported that

they did not add special fees to their collegelevel, credit-granting distance education

courses that were not added to on-campus

courses (figure 4).

• Overall, 57 percent of institutions are

charging both comparable tuition and

comparable fees for distance education and

on-campus courses.

Changes in Distance Education Since 1994–95

While this report primarily presents findings on

various aspects of distance education for all

postsecondary institutions for 1997–98, an

analysis of the data for the subset of higher

education institutions allows trend comparisons

with the previous NCES report on distance

education. Changes in distance education since

1994–953 are presented in this report in terms of

the percentage of institutions offering distance

education courses, the number of distance

education courses offered, the number of

enrollments in distance education courses, the

availability of distance education degree and

certificate programs, and the technologies used to

deliver distance education courses. Findings

indicate that:

• Between fall 1995 and 1997–98, the

percentage of higher education institutions

offering distance education courses increased

by about one-third, from 33 percent to 44

percent (table 21). From 1994–95 to 1997–

98, the number of course offerings and

enrollments in distance education approxi-

 

3

 The first PEQIS study, conducted in fall 1995, sometimes asked for

information about the current time frame (i.e., fall 1995), and

sometimes asked for information about academic year 1994–95.

Thus, both dates appear in the discussion of the results.

mately doubled (tables 22 and 23). And,

although the percentages of institutions

offering distance education degree and

certificate programs were essentially the same

in 1997–98 as in 1995, the number of degree

and certificate programs that were offered

nearly doubled (table 24). Taken together,

these findings suggest that the expansion in

distance education appears to be among

institutions that have offered distance

education for the past 3 years. These

institutions have substantially increased the

number of distance education courses,

enrollments, and degree and certificate

programs that they offer.

• Among all higher education institutions

offering any distance education, the

percentages of institutions using two-way

interactive video and one-way prerecorded

video were essentially the same in 1997–98

as in 1995. The percentage of institutions

using asynchronous Internet-based technologies, however, nearly tripled, from 22

percent of institutions in 1995 to 60 percent

of institutions in 1997–98 (table 25)4.

Conclusions

This PEQIS report presents findings for the 12-

month 1997–98 academic year about the status of

distance education in all postsecondary education

institutions. It also includes an analysis of trends

in distance education since 1994–95 for the

subset of higher education institutions. In the

most general terms, it finds that distance

education appears to have become a common

feature of many postsecondary education institutions and that, by their own accounts, it will

become only more common in the future.

While findings from this report will help to

inform stakeholders—including individuals

considering a postsecondary education, faculty

 

4

 In 1997–98, the wording of the computer-based technologies was

changed to more accurately reflect how these technologies are

used. For this comparison, other computer-based technology (e.g.,

Internet) is considered to be approximately equivalent to Internet

courses using asynchronous computer-based instruction.
vii

and administrators at postsecondary institutions,

providers of technologies used for distance

education, and policymakers at federal, state, and

local levels—they do not address many of the

questions about distance education. These

questions include issues related to:

• equity of access to postsecondary education,

• the costs of developing and implementing

distance education programs,

• accreditation of and quality assurance in

distance education programs,

• copyright and intellectual property rights,

• changes and challenges facing the role of

postsecondary faculty, and

• pressures on existing organizational structures and arrangements.

It is a dynamic time for postsecondary education

institutions facing the opportunities and

challenges brought by technological innovation.

As Gladieux and Swail (1999) assert: given the

fact that computer and related technologies are

evolving so quickly—and new providers and

brokers of higher education proliferating so

rapidly—no one knows how traditional higher

education will change.
viii
ix

Table of Contents

Chapter Page

Executive Summary ......................................................................................... iii

1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1

Overview .......................................................................................................... 2

What is Distance Education?............................................................... 2

Why Might Institutions Implement Distance Education? ................... 2

How is Distance Education Delivered?............................................... 3

How is Distance Education Organized?.............................................. 5

How Effective is Distance Education?................................................ 6

Emerging Policy Issues....................................................................... 7

Organization of this Report .............................................................................. 8

2 Institutions and Enrollments............................................................................. 11

Institutions Included in This Study................................................................... 11

Institutions Offering Distance Education Courses........................................... 12

Overall Enrollment in Distance Education Courses......................................... 15

Summary .......................................................................................................... 17

3 Course Offerings and Enrollments................................................................... 19

Number of Distance Education Courses Offered in 1997–98 .......................... 19

Course Offerings Included in the Study ........................................................... 22

Course Offerings by Field of Study.................................................................. 23

Enrollments by Field of Study.......................................................................... 27

Summary .......................................................................................................... 29

4 Degree and Certificate Programs...................................................................... 31

Institutions Offering Degree and Certificate Programs.................................... 31

Number of Degree and Certificate Programs................................................... 34

Summary .......................................................................................................... 36

5 Distance Education Technologies.................................................................... 37

Technologies Included in This Study............................................................... 37

Instruction Technologies Used in 1997–98...................................................... 37

Plans for Use of Instructional Technologies in the Next 3 Years .................... 39

Summary .......................................................................................................... 41
x

Table of Contents (continued)

Chapter Page

6 Tuition and Fees............................................................................................... 43

Tuition ............................................................................................................. 43

Fees ............................................................................................................. 45

Summary .......................................................................................................... 46

7 Changes in Distance Education Since 1994–95 .............................................. 47

Comparing the PEQIS Studies: An Overview................................................. 47

Institutions Offering Distance Education Courses........................................... 47

Number of Distance Education Courses Offered ............................................. 49

Enrollment in Distance Education Courses...................................................... 50

Degree and Certificate Programs...................................................................... 51

Distance Education Technologies.................................................................... 52

Summary .......................................................................................................... 54

8 Conclusions...................................................................................................... 55

References........................................................................................................ 57

List of Appendices

Appendix

A: Survey Methodology and Data Reliability....................................................... A-1

B: Tables of Standard Errors................................................................................. B-1

C: Survey Questionnaire ....................................................................................... C-1

List of Text Tables

Text Table

1 Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in

the nation, and the percentage distribution of students enrolled at those institutions,

by institutional characteristics: 1997–98 ........................................................................ 12

2 Number and percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions that offered distance education courses in 1997–98, that planned to

offer them in the next 3 years, and that did not offer and did not plan to offer them

in the next 3 years, by institutional characteristics.......................................................... 12

3 Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

that offered distance education courses in 1997–98, and the percentage distribution

of students enrolled at those institutions, by institutional characteristics........................ 13
xi

Table of Contents (continued)

List of Text Tables

Text Table Page

4 Total number of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions, and the

number and percent of institutions in the nation that offered distance education

courses in 1997–98, by level of institutional offerings.................................................... 14

5 Total number of enrollments in all distance education courses, and the number of

enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance education courses offered by

2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional

characteristics .................................................................................................................. 16

6 Total number of different distance education courses, and the number of different

college-level, credit-granting distance education courses offered by 2-year and 4-

year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional

characteristics .................................................................................................................. 20

7 Percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering any

distance education courses in 1997–98 that offered college-level, credit-granting

distance education courses in various fields of study in 1997–98, by course level

and field ........................................................................................................................... 23

8 Percent of all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering any

distance education courses in 1997–98 that offered college-level, credit-granting

distance education courses in various fields of study in 1997–98, by institutional

type and field ................................................................................................................... 24

9 Number of different college-level, credit-granting distance education courses

offered in various fields by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

in 1997–98, by course level and field.............................................................................. 25

10 Number of different college-level, credit-granting distance education courses

offered in various fields by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

in 1997–98, by institutional type and field ...................................................................... 26

11 Number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance education courses

offered in various fields at 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

in 1997–98, by course level and field.............................................................................. 27

12 Number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance education courses

offered in various fields at 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

in 1997–98, by institutional type and field ...................................................................... 28

13 Percent of all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering any

distance education courses in 1997–98, and the percent that had college-level

degree or certificate programs designed to be completed totally through distance

education in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics..................................................... 32
xii

Table of Contents (continued)

List of Text Tables

Text Table Page

14 Percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering any

distance education courses in 1997–98 that had college-level degree or certificate

programs in various fields that were designed to be completed totally through

distance education, by level and field.............................................................................. 33

15 Number of college-level degree and certificate programs designed to be completed

totally through distance education offered by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics.................................. 34

16 Number of college-level degree programs in selected fields designed to be

completed totally through distance education offered by 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by level and field .............................. 35

17 Percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering distance

education courses in 1997–98 indicating that the institution used various types of

technology as a primary mode of instructional delivery for distance education

courses in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics ........................................................ 38

18 Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

that offered distance education in 1997–98 or that planned to offer distance

education in the next 3 years according to their plans for the next 3 years

concerning the number of distance education courses that will be offered, by type

of technology that will be used as the primary mode of instructional delivery............... 39

19 Percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering distance

education in 1997–98 or planning to offer distance education in the next 3 years

that planned to start or increase their use of various types of technologies as the

primary mode of instructional delivery during the next 3 years...................................... 40

20 Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

offering distance education courses in 1997–98 according to how tuition charges

for college-level, credit-granting courses offered through distance education

compare to tuition charges for equivalent on-campus courses at their institution, by

institutional characteristics .............................................................................................. 43

21 Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions according

to current or planned offering of distance education courses, by institutional

characteristics: Fall 1995 and 1997–98 .......................................................................... 48

22 Number of different distance education courses offered by 2-year and 4-year higher

education institutions in 1994–95 and 1997–98, by institutional characteristics ............ 49

23 Number of enrollments in 1994–95 and 1997–98 in distance education courses

offered by 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions, by institutional

characteristics .................................................................................................................. 50
xiii

Table of Contents (continued)

List of Text Tables

Text Table Page

24 Percent of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions offering distance

education courses that offered distance education degree and certificate programs,

and the number of such programs in 1995 and 1997–98................................................. 51

25 Percent of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions offering distance

education courses that used various types of technologies to deliver distance

education courses in 1995 and 1997–98.......................................................................... 52

26 Percent of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions offering distance

education courses that used selected types of technologies to deliver distance

education courses in 1995 and 1997–98, by institutional type ........................................ 53

List of Figures

Figure

1 Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

offering distance education courses in 1997–98 according to number of enrollments

in distance education courses........................................................................................... 17

2 Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

offering distance education courses in 1997–98 according to number of distance

education courses............................................................................................................. 21

3 Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

with variable charges for distance education courses compared with equivalent oncampus courses in 1997–98 indicating how those tuition charges for distance

education courses differ................................................................................................... 44

4 Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

offering distance education courses in 1997–98 indicating whether the institution

adds any special fees to college-level, credit-granting distance education courses

that are not added to on-campus courses......................................................................... 45

5 Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

with the same tuition for distance education and comparable on-campus courses in

1997–98 indicating whether the institution adds any special fees to college-level,

credit-granting distance education courses that are not added to on-campus courses..... 45

List of Exhibits

Exhibit

1 Generations of Distance Education Technologies........................................................... 4
xiv
1

1. INTRODUCTION

Management pundit Peter Drucker has predicted that the residential university campus as

we know it will be defunct within 30 years. A better bet is that traditional higher

education will change, not disappear. The question is: How will it change? The fact is,

computer and related technologies are evolving so quickly—and new providers and

brokers of higher education proliferating so rapidly—no one knows. (Gladieux and Swail

1999, 7)

Many see the rise in the availability of

technology-supported distance education—that is,

the delivery of instruction over a distance to

individuals located in one or more venues—not

only as a revolutionary opportunity to increase

access to postsecondary education, but also as an

opportunity to hasten the overall pace of reform

in higher education (Ehrmann n.d.). In contrast to

the institutional status quo, what was once an

eclectic assortment of individually accessed,

noncredit educational courses is quickly being

knit into comprehensive degree- and certificategranting programs (Phipps, Wellman, and

Merisotis 1998). Indeed, if a recent article in the

Chronicle of Higher Education (April 9, 1999,

A27) is any indication, the distance education

industry is thriving: “For an industry that barely

existed three years ago, the level of activity is

dizzying.”

This report, conducted by the National Center for

Education Statistics (NCES), presents findings

from the second nationally representative survey

of distance education at the postsecondary level.

This survey, conducted in winter 1998–99,

collected information about the 12-month 1997–

98 academic year. The first report, Distance

Education in Higher Education Institutions (U.S.

Department of Education 1997) was based on

data from a 1995 NCES Postsecondary Education

Quick Information System (PEQIS) survey of

higher education institutions. It reported findings

on the number of institutions offering distance

education courses, the number of distance

education courses offered, enrollments in distance

education courses, the number of distance

education degree and certificate programs

offered, and the types of technologies used to

deliver distance education. As the first NCES

report on the topic, it provided valuable baseline

information about the status of distance education

in higher education institutions.

The current report updates and expands upon the

findings presented in the previous report in

several important ways. Perhaps most

significantly, the current survey expands the

universe of institutions from which it collected

data, from higher education institutions to all 2-

year and 4-year postsecondary institutions. In

addition, this report also presents new

information about fields of study and instructional

levels of courses and programs offered through

distance education, as well as information about

how tuition and fees charged for distance

education courses compare to those charged for

on-campus courses. Finally, this report also

provides trend information for higher education

institutions, including changes in the percentage

of higher education institutions offering distance

education courses, enrollments and course

offerings, degree and certificate programs, as well

as technologies used to deliver distance education

courses. These empirical results are provided in

the following chapters of this report. The

remainder of this chapter provides a brief

overview of issues related to distance education.
2

Overview

What is Distance Education?

Distance education in the most general sense of

the term is instruction delivered over a distance to

one or more individuals located in one or more

venues (Phipps, Wellman, and Merisotis 1998).

By this definition, the history of distance

education can be traced back as far as the 1830s

with the advent of commercial correspondence

courses (Hanson et al. 1997). But the advent of

advanced information technologies and, in

particular, the Internet, has profoundly altered the

character of distance education. Indeed, rapid

changes in technology continue to challenge the

traditional ways in which distance education is

defined (Hanson et al. 1997)—resulting in the

present situation where the term “distance

education” is applied to a great variety of

programs, providers, audiences, and media

(Sherry 1996).

For the purposes of this study, distance education

refers to education or training courses delivered

to remote (off-campus) location(s) via audio,

video (live or prerecorded), or computer

technologies, including both synchronous and

asynchronous instruction. Courses conducted

exclusively on campus, as well as classes

conducted exclusively via written correspondence, are not included in this definition of

distance education (although some on-campus

instruction or testing may be involved, and some

instruction may be conducted via written

correspondence). In addition, for the purposes of

this study, distance education does not include

courses in which the instructor travels to a remote

site to deliver instruction in person, although

courses may include a small amount of oncampus coursework or labwork, on-campus

exams, or occasional on-campus meetings.

Why Might Institutions Implement

Distance Education?

Several forces are at work in what some have

characterized as the “current rush” to implement

distance learning programs by colleges and

universities, including the convergence of

communication and computing technologies, the

changing demographics of students pursuing

postsecondary education, and the need to reduce

the cost of education (Sherron and Boettcher

1997). It has been suggested that the primary

benefits of implementing distance education

programs for postsecondary institutions include

the potential to increase enrollments of

nontraditional students and to reduce program

costs (Willis 1995). The 1995 PEQIS findings

indicate, for example, that a large majority of

institutions believed it somewhat or very

important that their distance education offerings

increase access to new audiences and increase

enrollments. In addition, fewer institutions (but

still a majority) reported that reducing institutional per-student costs was a somewhat or very

important goal to their distance education

program.

It has also been suggested that the benefits of

implementing distance education programs also

accrue to students. Accordingly, the primary

benefit of distance education may be that it has

the potential to provide access to postsecondary

education where otherwise it might not have been

available, due to such constraints as geography,

time, job and family responsibilities, or finances

(Sherron and Boettcher 1997). Increased access

to certificate and degree programs via distance

education may have the further benefit of

encouraging students to undertake these programs

or to complete them more quickly, particularly for

part-time students (Turoff 1997). Findings from

the 1995 PEQIS study on distance education

indicate that institutions support these goals. For

instance, a large majority of higher education

institutions using distance education reported that

improving access by making courses available at

convenient locations and by reducing time

constraints were somewhat or very important

goals in their decision to use distance education.

However, research evidence on the impact of

distance education on access, as well as research

evidence on distance education’s impact on both

enrollments and program costs, is not conclusive

(Gladieux and Swail 1999).
3

How is Distance Education Delivered?

The development of technologies employed to

provide distance education have resulted from a

“push-pull” relationship between providers and

the public: technological advances have created

awareness and demand among users, while usage

has pushed providers to further develop

technologies (Gladieux and Swail 1999).

According to Sherron and Boettcher (1997), these

advances have produced over the years four

different generations of distance education

technology. These generations are summarized in

exhibit 1 and described briefly below.

Key differentiating characteristics of the

generations of technologies of distance education

include:

• the number of individuals that can be

simultaneously supported in communication

(i.e., one-way, two-way, or multiple-way

communication);

• the amount and types of information (voice,

video, data) that can be communicated (i.e.,

whether the communication channels are

“broadband” or “narrowband”); and

• the speed at which that information is

communicated (i.e., whether the return rate is

fast or slow).

The technologies predominantly used in distance

education in the early and mid-20th century (such

as print, radio, and television) can be

characterized as one-way narrowband communication. These first-generation distance education

technologies, thus, were best used to transfer

information primarily from faculty to student.

This delivery mode did not typically incorporate

any interaction among students and only

supported minimal interaction between students

and faculty. One additional constraint among

first-generation broadcast technologies was that

they were time dependent (i.e., radio and

television broadcasts occurred only at specific,

predetermined times that required the student to

be listening or watching at those times).

Second-generation technologies began to emerge

by 1960 and represented a significant advancement in that they addressed the time dependency

issue of first-generation technologies. The advent

of the VCR and cable television enabled

“timeshifting” of the broadcast portion of distance

education courses, as well as the alternative of

bypassing broadcast completely by making the

content of courses available on videotapes that

could be sent to students and viewed at any time.

In other respects, however, distance education

courses that employ this generation of technology

are not so dissimilar from the previous

generation: there tends to be little interaction

among students and between students and faculty.

By the mid-1980s, the personal computer had

found its way into use by distance education

providers, followed not long thereafter by the

advent of two-way videoconferencing. This third

generation of distance education technologies, in

contrast to previous generations, allowed faculty

to convey increasingly complex and large

amounts of information to students and enabled

interaction among students and between students

and faculty through the use of electronic mail,

chat rooms, and bulletin boards. The advent of

computer-assisted instruction, simulations, and

other electronic resources accessed via computer

disk, CD-ROM, or the Internet further characterizes this generation of distance education

technology.

The fourth generation of distance education

technologies represents still another advance.

Interactivity among students and between

students and faculty is increased, and the amount

and types of information that can be exchanged

are significantly greater and take significantly less

time to occur. Indeed, these advances are further

decreasing distance education’s reliance on time

and place and are enabling the implementation of

completely virtual universities. The current

landscape of distance education incorporates a

number of technologies, spanning second, third,

and fourth generations. Examples that were

provided in the 1997–98 survey include two-way

video with two-way audio, one-way prerecorded

video, Internet courses using synchronous and

asynchronous computer-based instruction, and

CD-ROM.
4

Exhibit 1.—Generations of Distance Education Technologies

First Generation Second Generation Third Generation Fourth Generation

Primary Feature Predominantly one technology Multiple technologies

without computers

Multiple technologies including

computers and computer networking

Multiple technologies including the beginning

of high-bandwidth computer technologies

Timeframe 1850s to 1960 1960 to 1985 1985 to 1995 1995 to 2005 (est.)

Media • Print (1890+)

• Radio (1930s)

• Television (1950s and

1960s)

• Audiocassettes

• Television

• Videocassettes

• Fax

• Print

• Electronic mail, chat sessions, and

bulletin boards using computers

and computer networks

• Computer programs and resources

packaged on disks, CDs, and the

Internet

• Audioconferencing

• Seminar and large-room

videoconferencing via terrestrial,

satellite, cable, and phone

technologies

• Fax

• Print

• Electronic mail, chat sessions, and

bulletin boards using computers and

computer networks plus high-bandwidth

transmission for individualized,

customized, and live video interactive

learning experiences

• Computer programs and resources

packaged on disks, CDs, Internet

• Audioconferencing

• Desktop videoconferencing via

terrestrial, satellite, cable, and phone

technologies

• Fax

• Print

Communication

Features

• Primarily one-way

communication

• Interaction between

faculty and student by

telephone and mail

• Occasionally

supplemented by onsite

facilitators and student

mentors

• Primarily one-way

communication

• Interaction between

faculty and student by

telephone, fax, and mail

• Occasionally

supplemented by faceto-face meetings

• Significant broadband

communication from faculty to

students via print, computer

programs, and videoconferencing

• Two-way interactive capabilities

enabling asynchronous and

synchronous communication

between faculty and students and

among students

• Internet good for text, graphics,

and video snippets

• Two-way interactive real-time

capabilities of audio and video

• Asynchronous and synchronous

communication between faculty and

students and among students

• Full 30-frame-per-second digital video

transmission with databases of content

resources available via the Internet and

World Wide Web

• Lengthy digital video programming

available on demand

SOURCE: Sherron and Boettcher 1997.
5

In characterizing different implementations of

distance education, it is important to note that

research does not conclusively support the notion

that more advanced technologies necessarily

represent better distance education implementations (Hanson et al. 1997). Different distance

education technologies meet different instructional and learner needs and the consequent costs

to implement different technologies for

institutions and students vary. For instance,

Tuckey (1993, as cited in Hanson et al. 1997)

compared the use of an electronic whiteboard, a

form of synchronous audio-conferencing, and

asynchronous computer conferencing, concluding

that each form of technology had its advantages:

“Visual channels enabled through the whiteboard

technology may be more important in subject

areas such as mathematics and the sciences,

whereas [computer conferencing] may be more

suitable in areas requiring extensive discourse”

(p. 70). Furthermore, other factors such as

learner ages, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, interests and experiences, educational

levels, and familiarity with distance education

methods and delivery systems may all be

associated with the effectiveness of distance

education (Sherry 1996).

How is Distance Education Organized?

With the increased capabilities of newer

generations of distance education technology,

postsecondary institutions are being forced to

revisit, if not altogether redefine, their missions

(Ehrmann n.d.; Gallick 1998). In this regard, the

forces acting upon postsecondary institutions are

no different than those acting upon larger society.

New technologies are challenging fundamental

assumptions about the nature and organization of

work, as well as the need for workers to engage in

continuous learning (e.g., Carnevale 1991; Kelly

1998). A range of unconventional providers,

such as corporate universities and unaffiliated

distance learning providers, have entered the

postsecondary marketplace, offering instruction

and credentials in new settings, on flexible

schedules—blurring lines between public and

private, for-profit and not-for-profit (Gladieux

and Swail 1999).

Indeed, the institutional response to technology’s

pressure on organizational structures and

relationships can be traced back over 20 years

(Oblinger and Maruyama 1996). Through the end

of the 1970s, institutions generally acted

individually with regard to distance education,

creating their own materials or purchasing them

from other institutions. With the advent of

satellite technology in the 1980s, consortia of

institutions formed to share the correspondingly

high costs of course development and delivery.

With the rise of the networked computer and the

Internet, the 1990s have brought pressure on

institutions to consider their niche in an even

broader national or international distance

education marketplace, thereby fostering

innovations in institution-to-institution relationships.

One way to conceptualize these new and

emerging arrangements of institutions is by

considering what distinguishes different types of

postsecondary providers, both in terms of who

provides the education and who awards the

degree or certificate. Phipps, Wellman, and

Merisotis (1998) created such a typology and

identified four basic types of organizational

arrangements employed by institutions that

provide distance education:

• Enhancements to traditional campus-based

instruction. Perhaps the most prevalent form

of distance education occurs as an

enhancement to campus-based instruction

offered at traditional colleges and universities. In this type of arrangement, students

are regularly matriculated, enrolled in the

usual courses, taught by the same faculty, and

are generally on campus all or most of the

time they are studying. The instruction can

be offered through off-campus centers as well

as on campus. The difference is that distance

education students are not in the same

location as their instructors. Distance

education arises primarily through faculty

initiatives to employ available technologies

and may be particularly beneficial to students

who live off campus or who work full- or

part-time.
6

• Consortia or collaboratives. Another form

of distance education is provided by consortia

or collaboratives that represent cooperative

pooling and sharing arrangements among

institutions (typically, traditional colleges and

universities). In these arrangements, multiple

institutions join together to provide distance

education on a statewide or regional basis.

The authority to award degrees and credits,

however, remains with each member

institution and does not shift to the

consortium.

• Contracted or brokered arrangements.

Contracted or brokered arrangements are

configurations of institutions, faculty, or other

providers brought together solely for the

purpose of delivering distance education. In

contrast to consortia or collaboratives, the

authority to award degrees and credits rests

with the contracting or organizing entity, not

with the originating institution.

• Virtual universities. Virtual universities are

institutions that offer most or all of their

instruction via technological means and are

distinguished by their nearly exclusive use of

technology as the educational delivery

device.

As new types of organizational arrangements

emerge, challenges to the flexibility of the higher

education community may continue. For now,

distance education providers are offering

traditional and nontraditional students alike the

opportunity to pursue postsecondary education

through a variety of arrangements (Phipps,

Wellman, and Merisotis 1998).

How Effective is Distance Education?

As distance education has grown, so has interest

in its effectiveness. Research on the effectiveness

of distance education typically seeks to compare

the performance, attitudes, and satisfaction of

distance education students with those of

traditional on-campus students (Phipps and

Merisotis 1999). Like research on other

educational interventions, the distance education

literature is largely anecdotal in nature (Hanson et

al. 1997), contains a considerable amount of

cross-referencing (where many of the papers and

summaries cite similar research or reference each

other), consists of only a rather small body of

high-quality original research (Phipps and

Merisotis 1999), and—given the rapid evolution

of distance education—is dated.

Three recent reviews of the distance education

research offer some insights into its effectiveness.

An oft-cited report entitled The No Significant

Difference Phenomenon (Russell 1999) compiles

hundreds of sources that indicate that the learning

outcomes of distance education students are

similar to the learning outcomes of traditional oncampus students. This body of work also

suggests that the attitudes and satisfaction of

distance education students are generally positive.

Other reviews of this body of evidence are more

critical (Phipps, Wellman, and Merisotis 1998),

arguing that there is not conclusive evidence to

indicate that student learning outcomes are higher

in the vast majority of distance education settings

than in traditional on-campus ones. Noting issues

with the quality of the research base, Hanson and

his colleagues (1997) in their review of the

distance education literature tentatively conclude

that:

• Distance education is just as effective as

traditional education in regards to learner

outcomes.

• Distance education learners generally have a

more favorable attitude toward distance

education than traditional learners have, and

distance learners feel they learn as well as if

they were in a regular classroom.

• Successful distance education learners tend to

be abstract learners who are intrinsically

motivated and possess internal locus of

control.

• Each form of distance education technology

has its own advantages and disadvantages in

contributing to the overall quality of the

learning experience.

Despite these tentative statements, studies

comparing the outcomes of distance education

students with traditional on-campus students,
7

while commonly conducted, have been criticized

by many as inappropriate (Hanson et al. 1997):

It is likely that when different media

treatments of the same informational

content to the same students yields similar

learning results, the cause of the results can

be found in a method which the two

treatments share in common...give up your

enthusiasm for the belief that media

attributes cause learning (Clark 1994, 28)

In addition to general concerns about quality and

appropriateness, researchers also have identified

gaps in the existing research base on distance

education. For instance, according to Phipps and

Merisotis (1999) the research on distance

education:

• tends to emphasize student outcomes for

individual courses rather than for a total

academic program;

• does not take into account differences among

students;

• does not adequately explain why the dropout

rates of distance learners are higher;

• does not take into consideration how the

different learning styles of students relate to

the use of particular technologies;

• focuses mostly on the impact of individual

technologies rather than on the interaction of

multiple technologies;

• does not include a theoretical or conceptual

framework; and

• does not adequately address the impact of

access to resource materials and support

services.

Emerging Policy Issues

According to Phipps, Wellman, and Merisotis

(1998), the pace at which institutions are moving

into technology-mediated learning is remarkable.

Predictions are that distance education—which

was once a “poor and often unwelcome stepchild

within the academic community”—will continue

to have a profound impact on postsecondary

institutions and their faculty (Phipps and

Merisotis 1999, 29). As Kenneth Green, project

director of the Campus Computing Project,

asserts: “The genie will not go back into the

bottle: demand for technology will continue, not

diminish; the opportunities for distance and

online education will grow, not recede” (1997,

J-9). Evidence of this can be seen in the adoption

of distance education by postsecondary

institutions, as well as recent legislation

supporting distance education. For instance,

Public Law 105-224 (enacted October 7, 1998),

which extends the authorization of programs

under the Higher Education Act, contains three

provisions related to distance education:

• The Distance Education Demonstration

Program, which is intended to test the quality

and viability of distance education programs

currently ineligible for student aid funds

under Title IV of the Act; 

• The Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships program, which is intended to support

innovative partnerships among colleges,

employers, technology companies, and others

to implement asynchronous distance education on a national or regional scale; and

• The Web-Based Education Commission,

which is charged with conducting a thorough

study to assess the educational software

available in retail markets for secondary and

postsecondary students who choose to use

such software.

The support and adoption of distance education

has led to the emergence of a number of policy

issues that postsecondary institutions face:

• Equity of access to postsecondary

education. Many assert that the primary

benefit of distance education is that access to

postsecondary education is increased.

However, distance education requires that

students have access to appropriate (and

sometimes costly) technology and that they

know how to use it (Phipps and Merisotis

1999), and some have raised concerns about

special challenges students with disabilities

face in accessing distance education
8

(Chronicle of Higher Education, October 29,

1999). Currently, there is very little

information available on how many students

are actually making use of distance education

course offerings, and we know even less

about the characteristics of distance learners.

Without such information, there is no way to

know whether distance education is reaching

those who might not otherwise have access to

postsecondary education, or simply

accommodating those who already take

advantage of such opportunities (Gladieux

and Swail 1999).

• The costs of developing and implementing

distance education programs. Some have

asserted that distance education programs are

a cost-savings approach to providing

postsecondary education, but cost information

is scant (Gladieux and Swail 1999).

Anecdotally, there is some evidence to

suggest that these costs savings are not being

universally realized (New York Times 1998).

Given these concerns, it is important to note

that more than 60 percent of colleges and

universities do not have an information

technology financial plan in place (Green

1998).

• Accreditation of and quality assurance in

distance education programs. Distance

education poses many challenges to the

traditional model of academic accreditation.

Some fear that quality assurance mechanisms

are being bypassed by some distance

education providers and that the risk is a

degradation of public perception about the

meaning of a college degree and an increase

in the potential for consumer fraud and abuse

(Phipps, Wellman, and Merisotis 1998). On

the other hand, online institutions have been

accredited using established standards; for

example, the North Central Association’s

Commission on Institutions of Higher

Education have evaluated and accredited

online institutions (e.g., Jones International)

using the Commission’s accreditation

standards (Chronicle of Higher Education,

November 4, 1999).

• Copyright and intellectual property rights.

As more course syllabi, readings, and

discussions occur on line, ownership of

intellectual property—a legally complex and

potentially controversial issue—is a

continuing source of debate in the university

setting. A fourth of colleges and universities

have a campus policy regarding intellectual

property for Web-based instructional

resources developed by faculty (Green 1998).

• Changes and challenges facing the role of

postsecondary faculty. The rise of distance

education poses significant and substantial

challenges to faculty compensation practices

and existing norms of faculty development

(Sherron and Boettcher 1997), including

issues of promotion and tenure, release time,

course load, course updating and revision,

publishing, faculty mentoring, and consistency across departments.

• Pressures on existing organizational

structures and arrangements. As

previously noted, changes in distance

education technology are having an impact on

the missions and structures of participating

postsecondary institutions (Ehrmann n.d.;

Gallick 1998). For instance, institutions are

being forced to define the differences

between (traditional) residential and distance

education programs, and new arrangements

between the business, government, and

education sectors are emerging that are

challenging the traditional organization of

postsecondary education.

Organization of this Report

As the preceding discussion illustrates, distance

education is a topic of great interest to a number

of stakeholders, including individuals considering

a postsecondary education, faculty and

administrators at postsecondary institutions,

providers of technologies used for distance

education, and policymakers at federal, state, and

local levels. As such, there are a number of

questions that have been raised about this

phenomenon, including: How many institutions

offer distance education? How many plan to in

the future? How is distance education delivered?

How much does it cost? Has the status of
9

distance education changed in recent years? The

remaining chapters of this report address these

questions, as well as others. The next chapter

(chapter 2) provides information about the 2-year

and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

that offered distance education in 1997–98 and

the overall enrollments in distance education

offered at those institutions. Chapter 3 provides

information about the total number of distance

education courses offered, and the number of

college-level, credit-granting distance education

courses by field of study and instructional level of

the course. Information about enrollments by

field and level is also provided. Chapter 4

describes college-level degree and certificate

programs that are designed to be completed

totally through distance education. Chapter 5

describes the types of technologies that

institutions used as primary modes of instructional delivery and plans for future technology

use, and chapter 6 provides information about

how tuition and fees for distance education

courses compare to those for comparable oncampus courses. Chapter 7 provides comparisons

of distance education course offerings,

enrollments, degrees and certificates, and

technologies between 1994–95 and 1997–98.

The concluding chapter discusses the findings of

this study.
10
11

2. INSTITUTIONS AND ENROLLMENTS

There is some evidence to suggest that distance

education is becoming an increasingly visible

feature of postsecondary education in this

country. This chapter provides descriptive

information about all 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary education institutions that offered

distance education in 1997–98, including overall

enrollments in distance education courses at those

institutions. Analyses of institutions and

enrollments are presented by institutional type

and size. Information is also included about

enrollments by the level of course offerings

(undergraduate or graduate/first-professional).

As previously noted, the first NCES report on

distance education was of higher education

institutions and not of all postsecondary

institutions. Consequently, trend analyses of

distance education offerings and enrollments for

higher education institutions can be found in

chapter 7, Changes in Distance Education Since

1994–95. Since some readers may be unfamiliar

with the distinction between higher education

institutions and all postsecondary institutions, this

chapter begins with a description of the types of

institutions included in this study.

Institutions Included in This Study

This PEQIS study was designed to provide

nationally representative data about distance

education at 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions. There are approximately

5,000 postsecondary institutions at the 2-year and

4-year level in the nation, enrolling

approximately 14.4 million students.5 Postsecondary education institutions include both

institutions of higher education (traditional

 

5

 Information about the numbers of institutions and students is from

the 1996 PEQIS panel, which provided the sample for the Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions,

1998–1999. The 1996 PEQIS panel was constructed from the

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 1995–96

“Institutional Characteristics” file and the 1994 “Fall Enrollment”

file.

colleges and universities) and other postsecondary institutions (e.g., allied health and

vocational-technical schools). Thus, 2-year and

4-year postsecondary institutions are a diverse

group, including universities, baccalaureate

colleges, community colleges, graduate and

professional schools (including law, medical, and

clinical psychology schools), technical schools,

nursing and allied health schools, Bible colleges

and seminaries, and other postsecondary schools

such as business and computer processing

schools. At the 4-year level (i.e., at institutions

that offer baccalaureate or higher degrees), about

9 out of 10 of the private institutions are nonprofit

institutions, while at the 2-year level, about half

of the private institutions are nonprofit (not

shown in tables). Public and private institutions

have somewhat different institutional missions

and constituencies, partially because of the

financial support and programmatic oversight the

public institutions receive from state and local

governments.

The distributions of 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary institutions and the enrollments of

students at those institutions vary widely (see

table 1). While private 2-year institutions account

for 22 percent of the institutions, they enroll

2 percent of the students. The largest proportions

of students attend public 2-year (37 percent) and

public 4-year institutions (40 percent), although

these institutions account for 25 percent and

12 percent, respectively, of 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary institutions. Similarly, while

76 percent of the institutions are small (i.e., have

enrollments of less than 3,000 students),

49 percent of the students attend large institutions

(i.e., institutions that enroll 10,000 or more

students). Thus, while about three-quarters of the

institutions are small, about half of the students

attend large institutions.
12

Table 1.—Percentage distribution of 2-year

and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions in the nation, and the

percentage distribution of students

enrolled at those institutions, by

institutional characteristics: 1997–

98

Institutional characteristic Institutions Students

All institutions.................... 100 100

Institutional type

Public 2-year....................... 25 37

Private 2-year...................... 22 2

Public 4-year....................... 12 40

Private 4-year...................... 41 20

Size of institution

Less than 3,000................... 76 19

3,000 to 9,999 ..................... 16 32

10,000 or more.................... 8 49

NOTE: Percentages are computed within each classification

variable. Percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

Information about the distributions of institutions and students is

from the 1996 PEQIS panel, which was constructed from the 1995–

96 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

“Institutional Characteristics” file, and the IPEDS 1994 “Fall

Enrollment” file. The 1996 PEQIS panel provides the sample for the

Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary Institutions,

1998–1999.

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

Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information

System, Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education

Institutions, 1998–1999.

Institutions Offering

Distance Education Courses

Institutions were asked whether they offered any

distance education courses in 1997–98 (12-month

academic year), or planned to offer any such

courses in the next 3 years. Institutions that

offered any distance education courses were

asked about their total distance education

offerings (including offerings for all levels and

audiences), and their college-level, creditgranting distance education offerings. A third of

the postsecondary education institutions at the

2-year and 4-year level offered distance education

courses in 1997–98 (table 2). This represents an

estimated 1,680 institutions. Another 20 percent

of the institutions planned to start offering

distance education courses in the next 3 years,

and 47 percent did not offer and did not plan to

offer distance education courses in the next

3 years.

Table 2.—Number and percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions that offered distance education courses in 1997–98, that planned to offer

them in the next 3 years, and that did not offer and did not plan to offer them in the next

3 years, by institutional characteristics

Offered distance education

in 1997–98

Planned to offer distance

education in the

next 3 years

Did not offer in 1997–98 and

did not plan to offer in the

next 3 years

Institutional characteristic

Total number

of institutions

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

All institutions...................... 5,010 1,680 34 990 20 2,340 47

Institutional type

Public 2-year......................... 1,230 760 62 250 20 230 18

Private 2-year........................ 1,120 60 5 220 20 840 75

Public 4-year......................... 610 480 78 70 12 60 10

Private 4-year........................ 2,050 390 19 450 22 1,210 59

Size of institution

Less than 3,000..................... 3,800 730 19 840 22 2,230 59

3,000 to 9,999....................... 820 610 75 110 14 90 12

10,000 or more...................... 400 350 87 30 8 20 5

NOTE: Percentages are based on the estimated 5,010 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in the nation. Percentages are

computed across each row. Details may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
13

Distance education was more likely to be

conducted by public institutions; 78 percent of

public 4-year and 62 percent of public 2-year

institutions offered distance education courses,

compared with 19 percent of private 4-year and

5 percent of private 2-year institutions (table 2).

Distance education was also strongly related to

institutional size, with most large (87 percent) and

medium-sized (75 percent) institutions offering

distance education in 1997–98, compared with 19

percent of small institutions. Since most students

are enrolled in public 2-year and 4-year

institutions and in medium and large institutions

(see table 1), most students attend institutions that

offer distance education courses.

There are approximately 11 million students

enrolled at the institutions that offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 (not shown in

tables). Table 3 shows the percentage

distributions of institutions that offered distance

education courses in 1997–98, and the percentage

distributions of students at those institutions.

Among the institutions offering distance

education courses, public 2-year institutions

account for 45 percent of the institutions and

41 percent of the students, private 2-year

institutions account for 3 percent of the

institutions and less than 0.5 percent of the

students, public 4-year institutions account for 28

percent of the institutions and 47 percent of the

students, and private 4-year institutions account

for 23 percent of the institutions and 11 percent of

the students.

Table 3.—Percentage distribution of 2-year

and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions that offered distance

education courses in 1997–98, and

the percentage distribution of

students enrolled at those

institutions, by institutional

characteristics

Institutional characteristic Institutions Students

All institutions .................... 100 100

Institutional type

Public 2-year....................... 45 41

Private 2-year...................... 3 (††)

Public 4-year....................... 28 47

Private 4-year...................... 23 11

Size of institution

Less than 3,000 ................... 43 10

3,000 to 9,999 ..................... 36 33

10,000 or more.................... 21 58

††Less than 0.5 percent.

NOTE: Percentages are computed within each classification

variable. Percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

Information about the distributions of institutions and students is

from the 1996 PEQIS panel, which was constructed from the

1995–96 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

“Institutional Characteristics” file, and the IPEDS 1994 “Fall

Enrollment” file. The 1996 PEQIS panel provides the sample for

the Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education

Institutions, 1998–1999.

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

Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information

System, Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education

Institutions, 1998–1999.
14

Table 4.—Total number of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions, and the number

and percent of institutions in the nation that offered distance education courses in 1997–

98, by level of institutional offerings

Offered college-level, credit-granting distance education courses

Offered any distance

education courses Courses at either level Undergraduate courses

Graduate/firstprofessional courses

Level of institutional offerings

Total

number of

institutions

Number Percent* Number Percent* Number Percent* Number Percent*

All institutions................................ 5,010 1,680 34 1,650 33 1,460 29 610 12

Institutions with undergraduate

programs.................................... 4,510 1,620 36 1,590 35 1,460 32 560 12

Institutions with graduate/firstprofessional programs................ 1,860 750 40 740 40 560 30 590 32

*Percentages are based on the total number of institutions in that row.

NOTE: The numbers of institutions with undergraduate or graduate/first-professional programs do not sum to all institutions since many

institutions have both levels of offerings. Information about whether an institution has undergraduate or graduate/first-professional programs

(either on campus or distance education) is based on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System “Institutional Characteristics” file.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.

About the same number of institutions offered

college-level, credit-granting distance education

courses in 1997–98 (1,650 institutions) as offered

any distance education courses in that year

(1,680; see the top row of table 4). This

represents 33 percent and 34 percent, respectively, of all 5,010 postsecondary institutions at

the 2-year and 4-year level. Undergraduate

distance education courses were offered by 1,460

institutions, which represents 29 percent of all

the institutions, and graduate/first-professional

distance education courses were offered by 610

institutions, which represents 12 percent of all

institutions.6 The 1,680 institutions that offered

any distance education courses in 1997–98 are the

group of institutions included in the analyses for

institutions that offered distance education

courses at either level.7

 

6

 The numbers of institutions offering undergraduate or graduate/

first-professional distance education courses do not sum to the

number of institutions offering college-level distance education

courses at either level, since many institutions offer distance

education courses at both levels.

7

 The 1,680 institutions are the group included for analyses of

institutions that offered any distance education courses at either

level or that offered college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses at either level. That is, the analyses for collegelevel, credit-granting courses, enrollments, and degrees and

certificates were not further subset to only those institutions that

offered college-level, credit-granting distance education courses,

since only 2 percent of the institutions offering distance education

courses did not offer college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses. This analysis approach was used throughout

the report.

Institutions can also be characterized by whether

they have any undergraduate programs or

graduate/first-professional programs (either on

campus or distance education), as identified by

the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data

System (IPEDS) “Institutional Characteristics”

file. These programs, as identified by IPEDS,

should not be confused with the level of distance

education course offerings, described in the

paragraph above. Of the 5,010 postsecondary

education institutions at the 2-year and 4-year

level, 4,510 institutions have undergraduate

programs (see row 2 of table 4), and 1,860 institutions have graduate/first-professional programs

(see row 3 of table 4).8 Of the 4,510 institutions

that have any undergraduate programs, 1,620 (36

percent) offered any distance education courses in

1997–98 (row 2 of table 4). These 1,620

institutions are the group of institutions included

in the analyses for institutions that offered

undergraduate distance education courses. Of the

1,860 institutions that have any graduate/firstprofessional programs (row 3 of table 4), 750 (40

percent) offered any distance education courses in

1997–98. These 750 institutions are the group

of institutions included in the analyses for

 

8

 IPEDS identifies 1,370 of the 5,010 institutions as having programs

at both the undergraduate and graduate/first-professional levels.
15

institutions that offered distance education

courses at the graduate/first-professional level.9

Overall Enrollment in

Distance Education Courses

Institutions that offered any distance education

courses were asked about the total enrollment in

all distance education courses in 1997–98

(including enrollments in courses designed for all

types of students), and the enrollment in collegelevel, credit-granting distance education courses

in 1997–98, both overall and by the level of the

course. If a student was enrolled in multiple

courses, institutions were instructed to count the

student for each course in which he or she was

enrolled. Thus, enrollments may include

duplicated counts of students.10

The PEQIS survey indicates that there were an

estimated 1,661,100 enrollments in all distance

education courses offered by 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary institutions in 1997–98 (table 5).

There were an estimated 1,363,670 enrollments in

college-level, credit-granting distance education

courses in 1997–98, with most of these

(1,082,380) at the undergraduate level. The

remaining enrollments (281,300) were at the

graduate/first-professional level. To put these

numbers into context, the National Center for

Education Statistics (NCES) estimates that there

were 14.6 million students enrolled in 2-year and

4-year postsecondary education institutions in fall

 

9

 Of the 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education

courses in 1997–98, IPEDS identifies 690 institutions as having

any programs (either on campus or distance education) at both the

undergraduate and graduate/first-professional levels.

10This approach was used because discussions with institutions

during the survey development process indicated that institutions

could not report unduplicated counts of students enrolled in

distance education courses.

1996 (the most recent year for which information

is available), with an estimated 12.5 million

students enrolled at the undergraduate level, and

an estimated 2.1 million students enrolled at the

graduate/first-professional level (unpublished

tabulations from the 1996 IPEDS “Fall

Enrollment” file).11 Consistent with the distributions of the percentage of institutions that offered

distance education courses, most of the

enrollments in distance education courses were at

public 2-year and public 4-year institutions. In

addition, the number of enrollments in collegelevel, credit-granting distance education courses

was considerably higher at public 2-year institutions than at public 4-year institutions.

Private 4-year institutions put relatively more

emphasis on distance education at the

graduate/first-professional level than did public 4-

year institutions (table 5). That is, for public 4-

year institutions, 36 percent of the enrollments in

college-level distance education courses (163,080

out of 452,600) were at the graduate/firstprofessional level, compared with 57 percent at

the graduate/first-professional level for private 4-

year institutions (118,070 out of 208,590). This

may be because public and private postsecondary

institutions have different institutional missions

and constituencies, or because private institutions

are approaching distance education more

selectively, focusing more on specialized

programs and professional school offerings

(Chronicle of Higher Education, June 20, 1997;

Mulugetta and Mulugetta 1999).

 

11It is important to remember that the distance education enrollments

collected in the PEQIS survey may include duplicated counts of

students, while the NCES estimate of 14.6 million students

enrolled is an unduplicated count of students. Information about

total course enrollments at postsecondary institutions is not

available for comparison to the PEQIS distance education course

enrollments.
16

Table 5.—Total number of enrollments in all distance education courses, and the number of

enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance education courses offered by 2-year

and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional

characteristics

Number of enrollments in college-level,

credit-granting distance education courses

Institutional characteristic

Total number of

institutions

Number of

institutions that

offered distance

education courses

Total number of

enrollments in all

distance

education

courses1

Enrollment in

courses at both

levels1

Enrollments in

undergraduate

courses2

Enrollments in

graduate/

first-professional

courses3

All institutions.................. 5,010 1,680 1,661,100 1,363,670 1,082,380 281,300

Institutional type4

Public 2-year..................... 1,230 760 714,160 690,700 690,550 —

Public 4-year..................... 610 480 711,350 452,600 289,520 163,080

Private 4-year.................... 2,050 390 222,350 208,590 90,520 118,070

Size of institution

Less than 3,000................. 3,800 730 382,060 270,400 177,150 93,250

3,000 to 9,999................... 820 610 477,470 461,880 413,770 48,100

10,000 or more.................. 400 350 801,570 631,400 491,460 139,950

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate. Two-year branches of public 4-year institutions occasionally offer graduate/first-professional level

courses.

1

Includes information for the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

2

Includes information for the estimated 1,620 institutions that had undergraduate programs and that offered any distance education courses in

1997–98.

3

Includes information for the estimated 750 institutions that had graduate or first-professional programs and that offered any distance education

courses in 1997–98.

4Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

NOTE: Numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding and not reporting where there are too few cases for a reliable estimate. Enrollments

may include duplicated counts of students, since institutions were instructed to count a student enrolled in multiple courses for each course in

which he or she was enrolled.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
17

Figure 1.—Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

offering distance education courses in 1997–98 according to number of enrollments in

distance education courses

Enrollments in all distance education courses

1-80 

enrollments

26%

81-300 

enrollments

26%

301-800 

enrollments

22%

More than 

800 

enrollments

26%

1-80 

enrollments

26%

81-300 

enrollments

25%

301-800 

enrollments

22%

More than 

800 

enrollments

25%

Enrollments in college-level, credit-granting 

distance education courses

0 enrollments*

2%

*Two percent of the institutions that offered any distance education courses did not offer college-level, credit-granting distance education

courses.

NOTE: Percentages are based on the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98. Enrollments may

include duplicated counts of students, since institutions were instructed to count a student enrolled in multiple courses for each course in which he

or she was enrolled.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.

About half of the institutions that offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 had 300 or fewer

enrollments in those courses; 26 percent had 80 or

fewer enrollments (figure 1). The distributions

are similar for enrollments in all distance

education courses, and for enrollments in collegelevel, credit-granting distance education courses.

Summary

A third of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions offered any distance

education courses in 1997–98, and another 20

percent planned to start offering distance

education courses in the next 3 years. The

likelihood of offering distance education was

strongly related to institutional type and size, with

distance education being much more common at

public 2-year and 4-year institutions than at

private 2-year and 4-year institutions, and at

medium and large compared with small

institutions. These 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary institutions had an estimated

1,661,100 enrollments in all distance education

courses in 1997–98, and an estimated 1,363,670

enrollments in college-level, credit-granting

distance education courses, with most of these at

the undergraduate level. Consistent with the

distributions of institutions offering distance

education, most of the enrollments in distance

education courses were at public 2-year and

public 4-year institutions. About half of the

institutions that offered distance education

courses in 1997–98 had 300 or fewer enrollments

in those courses.
18
19

3. COURSE OFFERINGS

AND ENROLLMENTS

Comprehensive information about the courses

available through distance education and

enrollments in those courses has not been widely

available. To address this gap in the knowledge

base, this chapter provides information about the

total number of distance education courses

offered, and the number of college-level, creditgranting distance education courses offered by

general field of study and instructional level of

the course (undergraduate or graduate/firstprofessional). The chapter begins with

information about the number of distance

education courses offered in 1997–98. The fields

of study included in this report are then defined.

The chapter concludes with discussions of course

offerings and enrollments by field of study and

instructional level of the course.

Number of Distance Education

Courses Offered in 1997–98

An estimated 54,470 different distance education

courses12 were offered in the 12-month 1997–98

academic year by 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary education institutions (table 6).

This included both noncredit and credit-granting

distance education courses designed for all types

and levels of students, including elementary/

secondary, college, adult basic education,

continuing professional education, etc. An

estimated 49,690 different college-level, creditgranting distance education courses were offered

in 1997–98, with most of those (35,550) at the

undergraduate level. The remaining creditgranting courses (14,140) were at the graduate/

first-professional level. Consistent with the

distributions of the percentage of institutions that

offered distance education courses, most of the

 

12If a course had multiple sections or was offered multiple times

during the academic year, institutions were instructed to count it as

only one course.

distance education courses were offered by public

2-year and public 4-year institutions (43,800 out

of 54,470, or 80 percent, for total distance

education courses, and 39,360 out of 49,690, or

79 percent, for college-level, credit-granting

distance education courses).

Private 4-year institutions put particular emphasis

on offering college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses (9,740 out of 10,060, or

97 percent of their total distance education

courses), while a somewhat higher percentage of

distance education courses provided by public 2-

year and public 4-year institutions were not

college-level, credit-granting courses (table 6).

At public 2-year institutions, 92 percent (18,860

out of 20,410) of their total distance education

courses were college-level, credit-granting

courses; at public 4-year institutions, 88 percent

(20,500 out of 23,390) of the total distance

education courses were college-level creditgranting courses. This may be because public

and private postsecondary institutions have

different institutional missions and constituencies,

leading public institutions to offer more courses

for other audiences, such as elementary/secondary

or adult basic education students, or to offer more

noncredit courses, such as continuing professional

education for medical workers.
20

Table 6.—Total number of different distance education courses, and the number of different

college-level, credit-granting distance education courses offered by 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics

Number of different college-level,

credit-granting distance education courses offered

Institutional characteristic

Total number of

institutions

Number of

institutions that

offered distance

education courses

Total number of

different distance

education courses

offered1

Courses at both

levels1

Undergraduate

courses2

Graduate/

first-professional

courses3

All institutions.................... 5,010 1,680 54,470 49,690 35,550 14,140

Institutional type4

Public 2-year ...................... 1,230 760 20,410 18,860 18,820 —

Public 4-year ...................... 610 480 23,390 20,500 11,190 9,310

Private 4-year ..................... 2,050 390 10,060 9,740 4,950 4,790

Size of institution

Less than 3,000................... 3,800 730 16,180 14,230 10,510 3,720

3,000 to 9,999..................... 820 610 17,030 15,920 13,530 2,390

10,000 or more ................... 400 350 21,260 19,550 11,510 8,030

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate. Two-year branches of public 4-year institutions occasionally offer graduate/first-professional level

courses.

1

Includes information for the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

2

Includes information for the estimated 1,620 institutions that had undergraduate programs and that offered any distance education courses in

1997–98.

3

Includes information for the estimated 750 institutions that had graduate or first-professional programs and that offered any distance education

courses in 1997–98.

4Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

NOTE: Numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding and not reporting where there are too few cases for a reliable estimate. If a course

had multiple sections or was offered multiple times during the academic year, institutions were instructed to count it as only one course.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
21

About half of the institutions that offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 offered 15 or fewer

different distance education courses; 23 percent

offered 1 to 5 courses (figure 2). The

distributions of courses are similar for the total

number of distance education courses and for the

number of college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses. Two percent of the

institutions that offered distance education

courses offered only distance education courses

that were not college-level, credit-granting

courses. This included colleges offering courses

below the college level (e.g., adult basic

education), Bible colleges and seminaries offering

noncredit Bible courses, and professional schools

offering noncredit continuing education courses.

Figure 2.—Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

offering distance education courses in 1997–98 according to number of distance

education courses

All distance education courses

6-15 

courses

25%

16-35 

courses

28%

More 

than 35 

courses

24%

1-5 courses

23% 1-5 courses

23%

More than 

35 courses

23%

0 courses*

2%

16-35 

courses

27%

6-15 

courses

26%

College-level, credit-granting distance education courses

*Two percent of the institutions that offered any distance education courses did not offer college-level, credit-granting distance education

courses.

NOTE: Percentages are based on the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98. Percentages may not

sum to 100 because of rounding. If a course had multiple sections or was offered multiple times during the academic year, institutions were

instructed to count it as only one course.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
22

Course Offerings Included

in the Study

Institutions that offered distance education

courses in 1997–98 were asked about their

college-level, credit-granting distance education

courses by general field of study and the

instructional level of the course (i.e., whether the

course was an undergraduate course or a

graduate/first-professional course). The general

fields of study provided on the questionnaire and

examples of what is included under each are as

follows:

• Agriculture and natural resources: agricultural business and production, agricultural

sciences, conservation and renewable natural

resources;

• Business and management: business

administration, accounting, administrative

assistant/secretarial skills, human resources

management, marketing;

• Education: general teacher education, special

education, curriculum and instruction,

education administration and supervision;

• Engineering: general engineering, civil,

electrical, and mechanical engineering,

engineering-related technologies;

• Mathematics: mathematics, statistics;

• Computer science: general computer science,

computer programming, computer systems

analysis;

• Physical and biological/life sciences:

biology, chemistry, physics, geology;

• English, humanities, social and behavioral

sciences: English language and literature,

foreign languages, philosophy, history,

economics, psychology, sociology;

• Library and information sciences: library

science, librarianship;

• Health professions: nursing, medicine,

pharmacy, physical therapy, medical and

laboratory technology, health services

administration;

• Vocational/technical fields: air conditioning

and heating repair, computer and electronics

technology, drafting; and

• Other fields: all areas not covered above.

Institutions were asked to specify what the

other fields were. The most frequently

mentioned were theology and biblical studies.

Also frequently mentioned were art, physical

education, law and legal sciences, and student

and career development courses.

Some of the categories of general fields of study

are much broader than others.13 For example, the

category of English, humanities, and social and

behavioral sciences is very broad, while

mathematics is very narrow. This can influence

whether an institution offers courses (either on

campus or through distance education) in that

general field. In addition, some of the fields of

study are much more specialized than others, and

are offered (either on campus or through distance

education) by fewer institutions than are many of

the other fields. For example, courses in

agriculture and natural resources and library and

information sciences are offered by fewer

institutions than are courses in physical and

biological/life sciences. Some fields of study

(both on campus and distance education) also

vary by institutional type. For example, courses

in agriculture and natural resources are offered

primarily by community colleges and public landgrant universities, courses in vocational/technical

fields are offered primarily by public 2-year

community and technical colleges, and biblical

and theological studies are heavily concentrated

in religiously affiliated colleges and seminaries.

Fields that are part of a general undergraduate

education, however, such as English, humanities,

and social and behavioral sciences, and physical

and biological/life sciences, are much more likely

to be offered (either on campus or through

distance education) by most types of institutions.

 

13In preparing the list of general fields of study for the questionnaire,

considerations included the time institutions would have to spend

in sorting their courses into the various categories, distinctions

between the fields of study, and some general assumptions about

the prevalence of distance education offerings in various fields.

These assumptions were based on discussions with institutions

during the survey development process, and articles on distance

education from media sources such as the Chronicle of Higher

Education.
23

All of these factors should be kept in mind when

interpreting the following sections on courses and

enrollments by fields of study.

Course Offerings by Field of Study

About two-thirds (70 percent) of the institutions

that offered any distance education courses in

1997–98 offered college-level, credit-granting

distance education courses in the broad category

of English, humanities, and the social and

behavioral sciences; 55 percent offered for-credit

distance education courses in business and

management (table 7). About a third of the

institutions offering any distance education

courses in 1997–98 offered college-level, creditgranting distance education courses in the health

professions (36 percent), physical and biological/

life sciences (33 percent), and mathematics

(32 percent); 29 percent offered for-credit

distance education courses in education; and

26 percent offered for-credit distance education

courses in computer sciences. College-level,

credit-granting distance education courses were

offered in the remaining fields of study by

17 percent or fewer of the institutions that offered

distance education courses in 1997–98.

The general pattern was for institutions to offer

for-credit distance education courses in the

various fields of study more at the undergraduate

level than at the graduate level. For example,

71 percent of the institutions that had any

undergraduate programs and that offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 offered for-credit

undergraduate distance education courses in

English, humanities, and the social and behavioral

sciences, compared with 22 percent of the

institutions that had any graduate/firstprofessional programs offering for-credit distance

education courses at the graduate/firstprofessional level (table 7). An exception to this

general pattern was in the field of education,

where 19 percent of the institutions with

undergraduate programs offered for-credit

undergraduate distance education courses in

education, compared with 40 percent of the

institutions with graduate/first-professional

programs offering for-credit distance education

courses at the graduate/first-professional level.

For-credit engineering and library and information sciences courses were also offered more

often at the graduate/first-professional level than

at the undergraduate level.

Table 7.—Percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering any distance

education courses in 1997–98 that offered college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses in various fields of study in 1997–98, by course level and field

Field

Courses at either

level1

Undergraduate

courses2

Graduate/

first-professional

courses3

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences........................................ 70 71 22

Business and management............................................................................... 55 51 30

Health professions........................................................................................... 36 31 24

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................................................... 33 32 8

Mathematics.................................................................................................... 32 32 7

Education ........................................................................................................ 29 19 40

Computer science ............................................................................................ 26 25 10

Vocational/technical fields.............................................................................. 17 17 3

Engineering ..................................................................................................... 12 9 16

Agriculture and natural resources.................................................................... 7 7 3

Library and information sciences .................................................................... 6 4 7

Other fields...................................................................................................... 16 13 13

1Based on the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

2Based on the estimated 1,620 institutions that had undergraduate programs and that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

3Based on the estimated 750 institutions that had graduate or first-professional programs and that offered any distance education courses in

1997–98.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
24

Public 2-year institutions were more likely than

public 4-year institutions, which in turn were

more likely than private 4-year institutions, to

offer for-credit distance education courses in

English, humanities, and the social and behavioral

sciences, physical and biological/life sciences,

mathematics, computer science, and vocational/

technical fields (table 8). Public 4-year

institutions were more likely than either public 2-

year or private 4-year institutions to offer forcredit distance education courses in the health

professions, education, engineering, agriculture

and natural resources, and library and information

sciences. For-credit distance education courses in

business and management were about equally

likely to be offered at public 2-year and 4-year

institutions, which were both more likely to offer

them than private 4-year institutions. Private 4-

year institutions were more likely than either

public 2-year or public 4-year institutions to offer

for-credit distance education courses in the “other

fields” category. A large portion of the courses

shown in the “other fields” category consists of

courses in biblical and theological studies offered

by religiously affiliated colleges and seminaries.

Table 8.—Percent of all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering any

distance education courses in 1997–98 that offered college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses in various fields of study in 1997–98, by institutional type and field

Institutional type*

Field All institutions

Public 2-year Public 4-year Private 4-year

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences..... 70 85 73 40

Business and management............................................ 55 62 61 36

Health professions........................................................ 36 36 50 19

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................ 33 45 35 11

Mathematics................................................................. 32 46 28 13

Education ..................................................................... 29 14 61 22

Computer science ......................................................... 26 33 25 14

Vocational/technical fields........................................... 17 29 12 1

Engineering .................................................................. 12 5 29 8

Agriculture and natural resources................................. 7 7 14 0

Library and information sciences ................................. 6 4 13 1

Other fields................................................................... 16 12 12 30

*Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals.

NOTE: Percentages are based on the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98. Zeros appear in the

table when no institution in the sample gave the indicated response.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
25

The largest number of college-level, creditgranting distance education courses offered in

1997–98 was in the broad category of English,

humanities, and the social and behavioral

sciences, with 14,900 different courses (table 9).

The next largest number of for-credit distance

education courses was in business and

management (8,160 different courses). These two

general fields of study are also the fields in which

the largest percentage of institutions offered

distance education courses (see table 7). Large

numbers of for-credit distance education courses

were also offered in education (4,990), the health

professions (4,440), engineering (3,950), and

other fields (3,590; table 9). An estimated 2,400

different for-credit distance education courses

were offered in computer science, 2,340 in

vocational/technical fields, 2,160 in physical and

biological/life sciences, and 1,730 in

mathematics.

As with the percentage of institutions offering

distance education courses, the general pattern in

the number of for-credit courses offered was for

more courses to be offered at the undergraduate

than at the graduate/first-professional level (table

9). For example, this was the case in fields that

are part of a general undergraduate education,

such as English, humanities, and the social and

behavioral sciences, physical and biological/life

sciences, and mathematics. The exceptions to

this pattern were the fields of education,

engineering, and library and information sciences,

where the number of courses offered was higher

at the graduate/first-professional level than at the

undergraduate level. Possible reasons for the

number of distance education courses offered in

these fields being higher at the graduate/firstprofessional level include emphasis on graduate

education in these fields, the ability to convey

graduate-level course content in these fields using

distance education, and the likelihood that groups

of students would be located in one place (such as

a school district or engineering firm) to receive an

instructional broadcast that was targeted to them.

For example, many teachers are required to obtain

Table 9.—Number of different college-level, credit-granting distance education courses offered in

various fields by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by

course level and field

Field

Courses at both

levels1

Undergraduate

courses2

Graduate/

first-professional

courses3

All fields................................................................................................... 49,690 35,550 14,140

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences........................................ 14,900 13,690 1,210

Business and management............................................................................... 8,160 6,330 1,830

Health professions........................................................................................... 4,440 2,630 1,810

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................................................... 2,160 1,890 270

Mathematics.................................................................................................... 1,730 1,510 220

Education ........................................................................................................ 4,990 1,470 3,520

Computer science ............................................................................................ 2,400 1,810 590

Vocational/technical fields.............................................................................. 2,340 2,210 —

Engineering ..................................................................................................... 3,950 1,020 2,930

Agriculture and natural resources.................................................................... 620 500 —

Library and information sciences .................................................................... 420 110 310

Other fields...................................................................................................... 3,590 2,390 1,190

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

1

Includes information for the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

2

Includes information for the estimated 1,620 institutions that had undergraduate programs and that offered any distance education courses in

1997–98.

3

Includes information for the estimated 750 institutions that had graduate or first-professional programs and that offered any distance education

courses in 1997–98.

NOTE: Numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding and not reporting where there are too few cases for a reliable estimate. If a course

had multiple sections or was offered multiple times during the academic year, institutions were instructed to count it as only one course.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
26

a master’s degree to continue teaching or to

receive increases in their pay, and school districts

sometimes accommodate this requirement by

arranging for distance education courses in

education to be received at a site in their district

that is readily available to teachers. Technologyintensive fields such as engineering are likely to

require constant updating of knowledge and skills

beyond the bachelor’s degree, and may be more

amenable to distance education than fields that

require laboratory work, such as biology and

chemistry. For example, Stanford University has

been using its instructional television network to

broadcast graduate courses in engineering to

corporate sites throughout the country for nearly

30 years (Chronicle of Higher Education, June

20, 1997).

Public 2-year institutions offered more for-credit

distance education courses than public 4-year

institutions in English, humanities, and the social

and behavioral sciences, business and management, computer science, and mathematics

(table 10). Public 4-year institutions offered more

for-credit distance education courses than public

2-year institutions in the health professions and

education. For engineering, agriculture and

natural resources, and library and information

sciences, there were too few cases for reliable

estimates of the number of courses offered at

public 2-year institutions. For private 4-year

institutions, the number of courses offered could

not be reported for most of the fields of study

because there were too few cases for reliable

estimates. Where the data could be reported, the

number of for-credit distance education courses

offered by private 4-year institutions was lower

than at public 2-year institutions in English,

humanities, and the social and behavioral

sciences and in business and management. The

number of for-credit distance education courses

offered by private 4-year institutions was lower

than at public 4-year institutions in English,

humanities, and the social and behavioral

sciences and in the health professions. The

number of for-credit distance education courses

offered in the “other fields” category was higher

for private 4-year institutions than for public

4-year institutions.

Table 10.—Number of different college-level, credit-granting distance education courses offered in

various fields by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by

institutional type and field

Institutional type*

Field All institutions

Public 2-year Public 4-year Private 4-year

All fields................................................................ 49,690 18,860 20,500 9,740

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences..... 14,900 8,090 4,990 1,680

Business and management............................................ 8,160 3,450 2,600 1,970

Health professions........................................................ 4,440 1,260 2,170 980

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................ 2,160 1,090 870 —

Mathematics................................................................. 1,730 860 600 —

Education ..................................................................... 4,990 340 3,930 —

Computer science ......................................................... 2,400 960 710 —

Vocational/technical fields........................................... 2,340 1,800 420 —

Engineering .................................................................. 3,950 — 3,020 —

Agriculture and natural resources................................. 620 — 460 —

Library and information sciences ................................. 420 — 340 —

Other fields................................................................... 3,590 650 390 2,500

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

*Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals.

NOTE: The table includes information for the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98. Numbers

may not sum to totals because of rounding and not reporting where there are too few cases for a reliable estimate. If a course had multiple

sections or was offered multiple times during the academic year, institutions were instructed to count it as only one course.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
27

Enrollments by Field of Study

Institutions were also asked to report about

enrollments in college-level, credit-granting

distance education courses by general field of

study and the instructional level of the course.

Enrollments may include duplicated counts of

students, since institutions were instructed to

count a student enrolled in multiple courses for

each course in which he or she was enrolled. As

discussed in chapter 2, there were an estimated

1,363,670 enrollments in college-level, creditgranting distance education courses in 1997–98.

The largest number of enrollments in collegelevel, credit-granting distance education courses

was in the broad category of English, humanities,

and the social and behavioral sciences, with

537,220 enrollments (table 11). There were also

relatively large numbers of enrollments in

business and management (212,620). These two

general fields of study were also the fields with

the largest number of courses offered (see table

9).

As with the distributions of credit-granting

distance education courses offered, the general

pattern for enrollments was for there to be more

enrollments in courses offered at the undergraduate level than in courses offered at the

graduate/first-professional level (table 11). The

exceptions to this pattern were in engineering and

education, where enrollments were higher in

courses offered at the graduate/first-professional

level than in courses offered at the undergraduate

level. The field of library and information

sciences also shows higher enrollments at the

graduate/first-professional level than at the

undergraduate level, but the difference is not

statistically significant, due at least in part to so

few institutions offering distance education

courses in this field.

Table 11.—Number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance education courses

offered in various fields at 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in

1997–98, by course level and field

Field

Enrollments in

courses at both

levels1

Enrollments in

undergraduate

courses2

Enrollments in

graduate/

first-professional

courses3

All fields................................................................................................... 1,363,670 1,082,380 281,300

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences........................................ 537,220 513,840 23,380

Business and management............................................................................... 212,620 170,010 42,610

Health professions........................................................................................... 97,890 64,760 33,130

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................................................... 83,810 80,260 3,550

Mathematics.................................................................................................... 47,700 45,230 2,460

Education ........................................................................................................ 147,400 38,700 108,710

Computer science ............................................................................................ 69,690 58,970 10,720

Vocational/technical fields.............................................................................. 43,290 41,690 —

Engineering ..................................................................................................... 38,910 12,390 26,530

Agriculture and natural resources.................................................................... 12,900 11,380 —

Library and information sciences .................................................................... 13,120 5,040 8,080

Other fields...................................................................................................... 59,120 40,130 18,990

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

1

Includes information for the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

2

Includes information for the estimated 1,620 institutions that had undergraduate programs and that offered any distance education courses in

1997–98.

3

Includes information for the estimated 750 institutions that had graduate or first-professional programs and that offered any distance education

courses in 1997–98.

NOTE: Numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding and not reporting where there are too few cases for a reliable estimate. Enrollments

may include duplicated counts of students, since institutions were instructed to count a student enrolled in multiple courses for each course in

which he or she was enrolled.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
28

Public 2-year institutions had higher distance

education enrollments than public 4-year

institutions in the following fields (see table 12):

English, humanities, and the social and behavioral

sciences, business and management, physical and

biological/life sciences, mathematics, computer

science, and vocational/technical fields. The

number of enrollments in the broad category of

English, humanities, and social and behavioral

sciences is particularly large at public 2-year

institutions; it accounts for about half of the

distance education enrollments at these

institutions. Courses in this broad category

constitute a large portion of lower division

coursework at the undergraduate level, suggesting

that many of the enrollments in distance

education courses at public 2-year institutions

could be used to fulfill lower division course

requirements. Distance education enrollments at

public 4-year institutions were higher than at

public 2-year institutions in education; the

difference for the health professions was not

statistically significant. As with the number of

courses offered, some of the enrollment data by

field of study cannot be reported for private 4-

year institutions because there were too few cases

for reliable estimates. Where the data could be

reported, enrollments at private 4-year institutions

were lower than at public 2-year and public 4-

year institutions, except in the “other fields”

category, which did not differ significantly.

Table 12.—Number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance education courses

offered in various fields at 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in

1997–98, by institutional type and field

Institutional type*

Field All institutions

Public 2-year Public 4-year Private 4-year

All fields................................................................ 1,363,670 690,700 452,600 208,590

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences..... 537,220 355,130 133,210 47,830

Business and management............................................ 212,620 99,120 76,050 36,180

Health professions........................................................ 97,890 39,250 48,310 9,900

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................ 83,810 59,390 18,710 —

Mathematics................................................................. 47,700 30,830 11,620 —

Education ..................................................................... 147,400 13,080 81,530 —

Computer science ......................................................... 69,690 36,640 15,140 —

Vocational/technical fields........................................... 43,290 30,960 6,930 —

Engineering .................................................................. 38,910 — 29,440 —

Agriculture and natural resources................................. 12,900 — 10,160 —

Library and information sciences ................................. 13,120 — 8,520 —

Other fields................................................................... 59,120 18,130 12,990 24,650

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

*Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals.

NOTE: The table includes information for the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98. Numbers

may not sum to totals because of rounding and not reporting where there are too few cases for a reliable estimate. Enrollments may include

duplicated counts of students, since institutions were instructed to count a student enrolled in multiple courses for each course in which he or she

was enrolled.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
29

Summary

There were an estimated 54,470 different distance

education courses offered in 1997–98 (including

courses designed for all types of students), and an

estimated 49,690 different college-level, creditgranting distance education courses, with most of

these in courses at the undergraduate level. This

is consistent with the pattern of enrollments

discussed in chapter 2. The largest numbers of

courses and enrollments were in the broad

category of English, humanities, and social and

behavioral sciences. There were also large

numbers of enrollments in business and management, education, and the health professions. With

the exceptions of engineering, education, and

library and information sciences, the general

pattern was for the numbers of courses to be

higher at the undergraduate level than at the

graduate/first-professional level. As with the

distributions of distance education courses

offered, the general pattern was for there to be

more enrollments in courses offered at the

undergraduate level than in courses offered at the

graduate/first-professional level.
30
31

4. DEGREE AND

CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS

While taking individual courses through distance

education has the potential to increase access to

postsecondary education among those who

traditionally have not had access, it is the

possibility of completing degree and certificate

programs solely through distance education that

offers the potential for the most dramatic changes

in access and opportunity. This chapter presents

information about the prevalence of distance

education degree and certificate programs in all

postsecondary institutions by institutional type,

level of the degree and certificate programs, and

general field of study. Trend analyses for the

subset of higher education institutions can be

found in chapter 7, Changes in Distance

Education Since 1994–95.

Institutions Offering Degree and

Certificate Programs

In 1997–98, 8 percent of all 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary education institutions had any

college-level degree or certificate programs that

were designed to be completed totally through

distance education (table 13).14 Among the

 

14For this survey, institutions were instructed to include only degree

or certificate programs based on credit-granting courses. They

were also instructed to include programs that may require a small

amount of on-campus coursework or labwork, clinical work in

hospitals, or similar arrangements. An example of this type of

program would be a nursing program where students receive all

their coursework through distance education and then complete

their clinical work in hospitals located near their homes.

Institutions were also instructed to include baccalaureate degree

completion programs, which are programs where students enter an

institution with an associate’s degree (or the equivalent number of

credits) and then complete their final 2 years of coursework at the

new institution. These are sometimes structured as articulation

programs between community colleges and public 4-year colleges

in the state, with students completing the first 2 years of

coursework on campus at the community college, and then

receiving the last 2 years of coursework through a distance

education baccalaureate completion program offered by the public

4-year college.

34 percent of institutions that offered any distance

education courses in 1997–98, 25 percent had any

college-level degree or certificate programs that

were designed to be completed totally through

distance education. Among all institutions, public

4-year institutions were more likely than the other

types of institutions to have distance education

degree and certificate programs; 30 percent of all

public 4-year institutions had any distance

education degree or certificate programs,

compared with 8 percent of public 2-year and

6 percent of private 4-year institutions. Degree

programs were more prevalent than certificate

programs; 22 percent of the institutions that

offered distance education courses offered degree

programs and 7 percent offered certificate

programs. Both degree and certificate programs

were more likely to be offered at the

graduate/first-professional level than at the

undergraduate level (31 percent compared with

13 percent for degrees, and 9 percent compared

with 4 percent for certificates).

Table 14 shows the percentage of institutions that

offered distance education courses in 1997–98

that had degree and certificate programs designed

to be completed totally through distance

education, by field of study and instructional level

of the distance education degree or certificate

program. Overall, distance education degree and

certificate programs were not widely offered in

most fields. Graduate/first-professional degree

programs were most likely to be offered in

business and management, the health professions,

education, and engineering, although the

percentages of institutions offering programs in

these fields were still quite low.
32

Table 13.—Percent of all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering any

distance education courses in 1997–98, and the percent that had college-level degree or

certificate programs designed to be completed totally through distance education in

1997–98, by institutional characteristics

Had any college-level

degree or certificate

programs

Degree programs Certificate programs

Institutional

characteristic

Offered any

distance

education

courses1 All

institutions1

Institutions

with

distance

education

courses2

Degree

programs at

either level2

Undergraduate

degree

programs3

Graduate/

firstprofessional

degree

programs4

Certificate

programs at

either level2

Undergraduate

certificate

programs3

Graduate/

firstprofessional

certificate

programs4

All institutions........... 34 8 25 22 13 31 7 4 9

Institutional type5

Public 2-year.............. 62 8 13 11 11 (†) 4 4 (†)

Public 4-year.............. 78 30 39 38 18 34 10 4 8

Private 4-year............. 19 6 32 29 14 26 11 3 11

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.......... 19 4 20 17 10 24 7 3 11

3,000 to 9,999............ 75 14 19 18 13 20 4 2 3

10,000 or more........... 87 39 44 42 21 51 16 8 14

†Not applicable for 2-year institutions.

1Based on the estimated 5,010 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in the nation.

2Based on the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

3Based on the estimated 1,620 institutions that had undergraduate programs and that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

4Based on the estimated 750 institutions that had graduate or first-professional programs and that offered any distance education courses in

1997–98.

5Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
33

Table 14.—Percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering any distance

education courses in 1997–98 that had college-level degree or certificate programs in

various fields that were designed to be completed totally through distance education, by

level and field

Degree programs Certificate programs

Field Undergraduate

degree programs1

Graduate/

first-professional

degree programs2

Undergraduate

certificate

programs1

Graduate/

first-professional

certificate

programs2

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences..... 3 4 (††) 1

Business and management............................................ 4 11 1 2

Health professions........................................................ 3 9 1 3

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................ (††) 1 (††) (††)

Mathematics................................................................. 0 (††) 0 (††)

Education ..................................................................... 1 9 1 2

Computer science ......................................................... 1 4 1 1

Vocational/technical fields........................................... 1 1 1 0

Engineering .................................................................. 1 8 (††) 1

Agriculture and natural resources................................. (††) 1 (††) (††)

Library and information sciences ................................. 0 1 (††) (††)

Liberal/general studies.................................................. 4 (††) 0 0

Other fields................................................................... 1 3 (††) 0

††Less than 0.5 percent.

1Based on the estimated 1,620 institutions that had undergraduate programs and that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

2Based on the estimated 750 institutions that had graduate or first-professional programs and that offered any distance education courses in

1997–98.

NOTE: Zeros appear in the table when no institution in the sample gave the indicated response.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
34

Number of Degree and

Certificate Programs

In 1997–98, 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

institutions offered an estimated 1,230 collegelevel degree programs that were designed to be

completed totally through distance education

(table 15). There were a larger number of degree

programs at the graduate/first-professional level

than at the undergraduate level (720 compared

with 500). Public 4-year institutions offered

twice as many degree programs as private 4-year

institutions, which in turn offered more degree

programs than did public 2-year institutions.

Particularly notable are the 520 graduate/firstprofessional degree programs offered by public 4-

year institutions, which constitute approximately

42 percent of the total 1,230 distance education

degree programs offered. There were also an

estimated 340 college-level distance education

certificate programs offered in 1997–98, with 160

at the undergraduate level and 170 at the

graduate/first-professional level. Information

about certificate programs is not presented by

institutional characteristics because there were

too few cases for reliable estimates by

institutional characteristics.

Table 15.—Number of college-level degree and certificate programs designed to be completed

totally through distance education offered by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics

Degree programs Certificate programs

Institutional characteristic

Degree

programs at

both levels1

Undergraduate

degree

programs2

Graduate/

firstprofessional

degree

programs3

Certificate

programs at

both levels1

Undergraduate

certificate

programs2

Graduate/

firstprofessional

certificate

programs3

All institutions..................................... 1,230 500 720 340 160 170

Institutional type4

Public 2-year ....................................... 150 150 (†) — — (†)

Public 4-year ....................................... 720 210 520 — — —

Private 4-year ...................................... 360 — 210 — — —

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.................................... 310 — — — — —

3,000 to 9,999...................................... 290 120 — — — —

10,000 or more .................................... 630 200 440 — — —

†Not applicable for 2-year institutions.

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

1

Includes information for the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

2

Includes information for the estimated 1,620 institutions that had undergraduate programs and that offered any distance education courses in

1997–98.

3

Includes information for the estimated 750 institutions that had graduate or first-professional programs and that offered any distance education

courses in 1997–98.

4Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

NOTE: Numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding and not reporting where there are too few cases for a reliable estimate.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
35

The number of distance education degree

programs cannot be estimated for most of the

fields of study because there were too few cases

for reliable estimates for most fields. Of the

estimated 500 undergraduate distance education

degree programs offered in 1997–98, there were

an estimated 120 undergraduate distance

education degree programs in business and

management, and 70 in liberal/general studies,

which is a common degree area at community

colleges (table 16). The number of undergraduate

distance education degree programs could not be

estimated for the remaining fields. Of the

estimated 720 graduate/first-professional distance

education degree programs offered in 1997–98,

there were an estimated 210 programs in

engineering, 140 in business and management,

110 in education, and 100 in the health

professions. The number of graduate/firstprofessional degree programs could not be

estimated for the remaining fields. The number

of distance education certificate programs could

not be estimated for any of the fields.

Table 16.—Number of college-level degree programs in selected fields designed to be completed

totally through distance education offered by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in 1997–98, by level and field

Field

Undergraduate degree

programs1

Graduate/firstprofessional degree

programs2

Business and management.............................................................................................. 120 140

Health professions.......................................................................................................... — 100

Education ....................................................................................................................... — 110

Engineering .................................................................................................................... — 210

Liberal/general studies.................................................................................................... 70 —

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

1

Includes information for the estimated 1,620 institutions that had undergraduate programs and that offered any distance education courses in

1997–98.

2

Includes information for the estimated 750 institutions that had graduate or first-professional programs and that offered any distance education

courses in 1997–98.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
36

Summary

In 1997–98, degree and certificate programs

designed to be completed totally through distance

education were offered by 8 percent of all 2-year

and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

and by 25 percent of the postsecondary

institutions that offered distance education

courses. Degree programs were more prevalent

than certificate programs and were more likely to

be offered at the graduate/first-professional level

than at the undergraduate level. Public 4-year

institutions were particularly likely to have

distance education degree and certificate

programs. Overall, distance education degree and

certificate programs were not widely offered in

most fields of study. Graduate/first-professional

degree programs were most likely to be offered in

business and management, the health professions,

education, and engineering, although the

percentages of institutions offering programs in

these fields were still quite low. There were an

estimated 1,230 college-level degree programs

and 340 college-level certificate programs

designed to be completed totally through distance

education.
37

5. DISTANCE EDUCATION

TECHNOLOGIES

Changes in the types of technologies available for

delivering distance education, including changes

in the capabilities of networking technology and

the rise of the Internet, have played a role in the

adoption of distance education by postsecondary

institutions. This chapter provides information

about the types of technologies employed by all

postsecondary institutions to deliver distance

education. The chapter begins by defining the

technologies included in this study, and then

proceeds to describe the technologies used during

1997–98 by institutional type. To provide insight

into the dynamic nature of distance education

technologies, the chapter concludes with

information about postsecondary institutions’

plans for the use of various technologies in the

next 3 years. Trend analyses for the subset of

higher education institutions can be found in

chapter 7, Changes in Distance Education Since

1994–95.

Technologies Included in This Study

This study asked about the following technologies

available for the instructional delivery of distance

education courses. Courses conducted exclusively through written correspondence were not

included in this study.

• Video technologies: two-way video with twoway audio (also referred to as two-way

interactive video), one-way video with twoway audio, one-way live video, and one-way

prerecorded video (including prerecorded

videotapes provided to students, and

television broadcast and cable transmission

using prerecorded video).

• Audio technologies: two-way audio transmission (e.g., audio/phone conferencing) and

one-way audio transmission (including radio

broadcast and prerecorded audiotapes

provided to students).

• Internet-based technologies: Internet courses

using synchronous (i.e., simultaneous or “real

time”) computer-based instruction (e.g.,

interactive computer conferencing or

Interactive Relay Chat), and Internet courses

using asynchronous (i.e., not simultaneous)

computer-based instruction (e.g., e-mail,

listserves, and most World Wide Web-based

courses).

• Other technologies: CD-ROM, mixed mode

packages (i.e., a mix of technologies that

cannot be assigned to a primary mode), and

an open-ended “other, specify” category.

Instructional Technologies

Used in 1997–98

Institutions that offered distance education

courses in 1997–98 were asked which types of

technology the institution used as a primary mode

of instructional delivery for distance education

courses in 1997–98. An individual course could

have only one predominant mode of delivery.15

Institutions could, however, indicate that they

used many different technologies as primary

modes of instructional delivery across all of their

distance education courses, since different

distance education courses could use different

types of technology. Information was not

collected about the number of courses offered

using each technology as the primary

instructional delivery mode, only whether the

institution used it at all as a primary mode of

instruction for distance education courses.

 

15If a course used multiple technologies to deliver instruction but one

mode predominated, institutions were instructed to indicate the

predominant mode for the course. If no primary mode could be

identified, then the course would be considered to use a mixedmode package as the primary mode of instructional delivery.
38

More institutions used asynchronous Internet

instruction (58 percent of institutions), two-way

interactive video (54 percent), and one-way

prerecorded video (47 percent) than used any of

the other technologies as a primary mode of

instructional delivery for distance education

courses (table 17). Nineteen percent of the

institutions offered courses using synchronous

Internet instruction, and 14 percent used one-way

video with two-way audio. Eight percent or

fewer of the institutions used each of the other

technologies (see table 17) as a primary

instructional mode. Thus, the results indicate that

more institutions used several types of video

technologies and the Internet-based technologies

than the other modes of delivery.

Differences in the use of the technologies may

vary by institutional type due to factors such as

the differing costs and resources required for

various technologies, the kinds of students that

are targeted by the different types of institutions,

and the different kinds of courses that are offered

by the institutions. The results indicate that the

likelihood of using some of the technologies did

vary substantially by institutional type. For

example, among institutions offering distance

education courses in 1997–98, two-way

interactive video was more likely to be used by

public 4-year institutions (80 percent) than by any

other type of institution, and by public 2-year

institutions (53 percent) more than private 4-year

institutions (29 percent; table 17). One-way

prerecorded video was reported as a primary

mode of instruction more often by public 2-year

institutions (62 percent) than by either public or

private 4-year institutions, and by public 4-year

institutions (44 percent) more often than by

private 4-year institutions (26 percent). The

Internet technologies, however, were generally

about equally likely to be used by the various

types of institutions, ranging from 16 percent to

22 percent for synchronous Internet instruction,

and from 57 percent to 61 percent for

asynchronous Internet instruction.

Table 17.—Percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering distance

education courses in 1997–98 indicating that the institution used various types of

technology as a primary mode of instructional delivery for distance education courses

in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics

Institutional

characteristic

Two-way

video

with twoway

audio

(two-way

interactive

video)

One-way

video

with twoway

audio

One-way

live video

One-way

prerecorded

video

Two-way

audio

transmission

One-way

audio

transmission

Internet

courses

using

synchronous

computerbased

instruction

Internet

courses

using

asynchronous

computerbased

instruction

CD-ROM

Multimode

packages

Other

technologies

All institutions...... 54 14 6 47 6 6 19 58 7 8 2

Institutional type*

Public 2-year......... 53 15 7 62 4 4 16 57 7 7 1

Public 4-year......... 80 22 9 44 7 5 22 58 8 12 2

Private 4-year........ 29 3 0 26 8 13 19 61 4 4 2

Size of institution

Less than 3,000..... 45 9 3 29 7 8 15 51 5 3 2

3,000 to 9,999....... 57 13 6 56 4 3 19 59 7 10 1

10,000 or more...... 66 26 12 68 6 9 26 69 10 14 4

*Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

NOTE: Percentages are based on the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98. Percentages

sum to more than 100 because institutions could use different types of technologies as primary modes of instructional delivery for

different distance education courses. Zeros appear in the table when no institution in the sample gave the indicated response.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
39

Plans for Use of Instructional

Technologies in the Next 3 Years

Institutions that offered distance education

courses in 1997–98 (34 percent of all institutions)

or that planned to offer distance education

courses in the next 3 years (20 percent of all

institutions) were asked about their plans for the

use of different types of technologies as a primary

mode of instructional delivery in the next 3 years.

For each technology, institutions indicated

whether they planned to reduce the number of

courses using that technology, keep the same

number of courses, start using or increase the

number of courses, or had no plans to use that

technology in the next 3 years. For each of the

technologies, 1 percent or fewer of the institutions

planned to reduce their use of that technology as a

primary instructional delivery mode in the next 3

years (table 18). Eleven percent of the

institutions indicated that they planned to keep

the same number of courses using one-way

prerecorded video.

Institutions planned to start using or increase their

use of asynchronous Internet instruction as a

primary mode of delivery more than any other

type of technology, with 82 percent of the

institutions planning to start or increase their use

of this technology (table 18). Two-way

interactive video (cited by 61 percent) and

synchronous Internet instruction (cited by 60

percent) were also frequently indicated as

technologies planned for an increasing role in

delivering distance education in the next 3 years.

About a third of institutions planned to start using

or increase their use of one-way prerecorded

video (35 percent), CD-ROM (31 percent), and

multi-mode packages (30 percent). Seventeen

percent or fewer of the institutions planned to

start using or increase their use of the remaining

technologies.

Table 18.—Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions that

offered distance education in 1997–98 or that planned to offer distance education in the

next 3 years according to their plans for the next 3 years concerning the number of

distance education courses that will be offered, by type of technology that will be used

as the primary mode of instructional delivery

Technology

Reduce the

number

Keep the same

number

Start or increase

the number

No plans to use

the technology

Two-way video with two-way audio (two-way

interactive video) ................................................... 1 4 61 34

One-way video with two-way audio............................. 1 3 17 79

One-way live video....................................................... 1 1 14 84

One-way prerecorded video.......................................... 1 11 35 54

Two-way audio transmission........................................ (††) 2 9 88

One-way audio transmission ........................................ 1 1 9 89

Internet courses using synchronous computer-based

instruction.............................................................. (††) 1 60 39

Internet courses using asynchronous computerbased instruction.................................................... 0 1 82 16

CD-ROM...................................................................... 0 1 31 69

Multi-mode packages................................................... (††) 1 30 69

Other technologies........................................................ (††) (††) 3 96

††Less than 0.5 percent.

NOTE: Percentages are based on the estimated 2,580 institutions that either offered distance education courses in 1997–98 (1,680 institutions),

or that planned to offer distance education courses in the next 3 years and could report about their technology plans (900 institutions).

Percentages are computed across each row, but may not sum to 100 because of rounding. Zeros appear in the table when no institution in the

sample gave the indicated response.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
40

Table 19 shows the percentage of institutions that

planned to start or increase their use of the

technologies in the next 3 years, presented

separately for institutions that offered distance

education in 1997–98 and institutions that

planned to start offering distance education in the

next 3 years. Plans for the two groups were not

significantly different for most technologies.

Two-way interactive video, asynchronous

Internet instruction, and multi-mode packages

were some exceptions. For each of these three

technologies, institutions that offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 were more likely

than institutions that planned to start offering

distance education in the next 3 years to plan to

start or increase their use of this technology.

Table 19.—Percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering distance

education in 1997–98 or planning to offer distance education in the next 3 years that

planned to start or increase their use of various types of technologies as the primary

mode of instructional delivery during the next 3 years

Technology

Institutions that offered

distance education

in 1997–981

Institutions that planned

to offer distance

education in

the next 3 years2

Two-way video with two-way audio (two-way interactive video)................................ 65 52

One-way video with two-way audio............................................................................. 16 19

One-way live video....................................................................................................... 12 16

One-way prerecorded video.......................................................................................... 37 30

Two-way audio transmission........................................................................................ 9 10

One-way audio transmission ........................................................................................ 10 8

Internet courses using synchronous computer-based instruction .................................. 59 62

Internet courses using asynchronous computer-based instruction................................. 87 73

CD-ROM...................................................................................................................... 32 27

Multi-mode packages................................................................................................... 35 21

Other technologies........................................................................................................ 3 3

1

Percentages are based on the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered distance education courses in 1997–98.

2

Percentages are based on the estimated 900 institutions that planned to offer distance education courses in the next 3 years and could report about

their technology plans.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
41

Summary

In 1997–98, more institutions used several types

of video technologies and the Internet-based

technologies to deliver distance education courses

than the other modes of delivery. Specifically,

more institutions used asynchronous Internet

instruction, two-way interactive video, and oneway prerecorded video than used any of the other

technologies as a primary mode of instructional

delivery.

Use of some of the technologies differed by

institutional type. For example, two-way

interactive video was more likely to be used by

public 4-year institutions than by any other type

of institution, and by public 2-year institutions

more than private 4-year institutions. One-way

prerecorded video was more likely to be used by

public 2-year institutions than by any other type

of institution, and by public 4-year institutions

more than private 4-year institutions. The

Internet technologies, however, were about

equally likely to be used by the various types of

institutions. Differences in the use of the

technologies by institutional type may be due to

factors such as the differing costs and resources

required for the various technologies, the

different kinds of courses that are offered by the

institutions and how well those courses fit with

the technologies, and whether the types of

students targeted by the institutions are a good fit

with the technologies.

The results suggest that planned investments in

distance education technology over the next 3

years are more likely to be made on more

advanced generations of distance education

technologies. More institutions indicated plans to

start using or increase their use of asynchronous

Internet instruction , two-way interactive video,

and synchronous Internet instruction in the next 3

years than of other technologies. This suggests

that interactive video and the Internet

technologies are a growing mode of delivery

among postsecondary institutions.
42
43

6. TUITION AND FEES

While distance education can be seen as a costsavings approach to providing postsecondary

education, the costs of developing, implementing,

and delivering distance education courses can be

substantial. One might expect that institutions

would pass these costs or cost savings on by

charging different tuition and fees to students

enrolled in distance education courses. To

examine this issue, this chapter provides

information about how tuition and fees for

distance education courses compare to those for

traditional campus-based courses. Analyses are

presented by institutional type.

Tuition

Institutions were asked how the tuition charged

for college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses compared with tuition charged

for equivalent on-campus courses. Table 20

shows how tuition costs for distance education

and on-campus courses compared among

institutions that offered any distance education

courses in 1997–98. About three-quarters

(77 percent) of the institutions charged the same

tuition for distance education courses as for

comparable on-campus courses. Relatively few

institutions indicated that their tuition charges

were always lower (3 percent) or always higher (6

percent) for distance education courses than for

on-campus courses, and 14 percent indicated that

Table 20.—Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions

offering distance education courses in 1997–98 according to how tuition charges for

college-level, credit-granting courses offered through distance education compare to

tuition charges for equivalent on-campus courses at their institution, by institutional

characteristics

Institutional characteristic

Tuition charges are

always higher for

distance education

courses than for oncampus courses

Tuition charges are

always lower for

distance education

courses than for oncampus courses

Tuition charges are

always the same for both

distance education and

on-campus courses

Tuition charges for

distance education

courses are sometimes

the same as, and

sometimes different than,

tuition charges for oncampus courses

All institutions.............................. 6 3 77 14

Institutional type*

Public 2-year................................. 4 0 90 6

Public 4-year................................. 6 3 64 28

Private 4-year................................ 6 10 71 13

Size of institution

Less than 3,000............................. 5 5 79 11

3,000 to 9,999............................... 7 1 79 13

10,000 or more.............................. 5 3 70 23

*Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

NOTE: Percentages are based on the estimated 1,680 institutions that offered distance education courses in 1997–98. Zeros appear in the table

when no institution in the sample gave the indicated response. Percentages are computed across each row, but 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 at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
44

their tuition charges for distance education were

variable (i.e., sometimes the same as and

sometimes different than for on-campus

courses).16

Public 2-year institutions were more likely than

public or private 4-year institutions to indicate

that tuition charges were always the same for

distance education and on-campus courses, with

90 percent of public 2-year institutions that

offered distance education courses giving this

response (table 20). Variable tuition charges

were more common among public 4-year

institutions offering distance education courses

than at other types of institutions, although still a

minority at 28 percent of public 4-year

institutions.

Among the 14 percent of institutions with

variable tuition charges for distance education

courses (i.e., tuition for distance education was

sometimes the same as and sometimes different

than for on-campus courses), 38 percent indicated

that the tuition for distance education courses was

always higher than for on-campus courses when

the charges differed, and 14 percent indicated that

it was always lower when the charges differed

(figure 3). About half (48 percent) of the

institutions with variable tuition charges indicated

that tuition for distance education courses was

sometimes higher and sometimes lower than for

on-campus courses when the tuition differed.

 

16At some institutions, both public and private, tuition charges are

set at the same level for all students by entities such as the state

legislature or the Board of Trustees. At such institutions, tuition

charges would be the same for distance education and on-campus

courses.

Figure 3.—Percentage distribution of 2-year

and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions with variable

charges for distance education

courses compared with equivalent

on-campus courses in 1997–98

indicating how those tuition

charges for distance education

courses differ

Always 

higher 

38%

Always 

lower

14%

Sometimes 

higher and 

sometimes 

lower

48%

NOTE: Percentages are based on the 14 percent of institutions that

offered distance education courses in 1997–98 and that indicated

that tuition charges for distance education courses are sometimes the

same as, and sometimes different than, tuition charges for oncampus courses.

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

Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information

System, Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education

Institutions, 1998–1999.
45

Fees

Another approach that institutions may use to

offset the cost of distance education is the

application of special fees to distance education

courses that are not added to on-campus courses.

These fees may be determined by factors such as

delivery format or location. Two-thirds

(66 percent) of the institutions that offered

distance education courses indicated that they did

not add special fees to their college-level, creditgranting distance education courses, 21 percent

sometimes added special fees, and 13 percent

always added special fees (figure 4).

Figure 4.—Percentage distribution of 2-year

and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions offering

distance education courses in

1997–98 indicating whether the

institution adds any special fees to

college-level, credit-granting

distance education courses that are

not added to on-campus courses

Always 

added

13%

Sometimes 

added

21%

Not added

66%

NOTE: Percentages are based on the estimated 1,680 institutions

that offered distance education courses in 1997–98.

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

Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information

System, Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education

Institutions, 1998–1999.

Institutions that are not able or choose not to

charge higher tuition for distance education

courses may use special fees as an alternative

method of collecting additional funds for these

courses. However, most institutions do not

appear to be using this approach. Among the 77

percent of institutions that always charge the

same tuition for on-campus and distance

education courses (see table 20), 74 percent do

not add any special fees to distance education

courses, 15 percent sometimes add special fees,

and 11 percent always add special fees (figure 5).

Thus, 57 percent of institutions overall are

charging both comparable tuition and comparable

fees for distance education and on-campus

courses.

Figure 5.—Percentage distribution of 2-year

and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions with the

same tuition for distance education

and comparable on-campus

courses in 1997–98 indicating

whether the institution adds any

special fees to college-level, creditgranting distance education

courses that are not added to oncampus courses

Always 

added

11%

Sometimes 

added

15%

Not added

74%

NOTE: Percentages are based on the 77 percent of institutions

offering distance education courses in 1997–98 that indicated that

tuition charges are always the same for both distance education and

on-campus courses.

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

Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information

System, Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education

Institutions, 1998–1999.
46

Summary

Results indicate that most postsecondary

education institutions do not pass on the costs or

cost savings of distance education programs by

charging different tuition or fees to students

enrolled in distance education courses. About

three-quarters of institutions with distance

education always charge the same tuition for

distance education and comparable on-campus

courses. Public 2-year institutions were the most

likely to indicate that tuition charges were always

the same, with 90 percent of public 2-year

institutions always charging comparable tuition

for on-campus and distance education courses.

Moreover, two-thirds of institutions do not add

special fees to distance education courses that are

not added to on-campus courses. Further,

57 percent of institutions charge both comparable

tuition and comparable fees for distance

education and on-campus courses.
47

7. CHANGES IN DISTANCE

EDUCATION SINCE 1994–95

Chapters 2 through 6 of this report present

findings on various aspects of distance education

for all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions for 1997–98. This chapter provides

comparisons of distance education course

offerings, enrollments, degrees and certificates,

and technologies at the subset of 2-year and 4-

year higher education institutions for 1994–95

and 1997–98. These comparisons are based on

the two PEQIS distance education studies

conducted by NCES.17 The chapter begins with

an overview of the similarities and differences

between the two PEQIS studies. Information is

then provided about the extent of change in the

percentage of institutions offering distance

education courses, the number of distance

education courses offered, the number of

enrollments in distance education courses, the

availability of distance education degree and

certificate programs, and the technologies used to

deliver distance education courses.

Comparing the PEQIS Studies:

An Overview

The 1997–98 study was sent to all postsecondary

education institutions in the PEQIS panel, both

higher education and other postsecondary

education institutions. In order to make

comparisons between the 1997–98 study and the

1995 study, which was sent only to higher

education institutions, the data from the 1997–98

study were analyzed for the subset of higher

education institutions. It is the data from this

subset of institutions that are presented in this

 

17The first PEQIS study, conducted in fall 1995, sometimes asked

for information about the current time frame (i.e., fall 1995), and

sometimes asked for information about academic year 1994–95.

Thus, both dates appear in the results section of this chapter. The

second PEQIS study, conducted in winter 1998–99, is referred to

as the 1997–98 study, since the data were collected for that time

period.

chapter. Additional information about differences

in the samples between the two studies is

presented in appendix A.

In addition, there were slight variations in

wording between some of the items on the two

surveys. This included the wording for the

number of distance education courses offered,

enrollment in distance education courses, degree

and certificate programs, and the distance

education technologies used. These variations in

question wording are discussed in appendix A.

Also, the data from the 1995 study were not

imputed for item nonresponse. However, item

nonresponse was very low and did not

substantially affect the results. In the following

sections, item nonresponse is noted where it

occurred.

Institutions Offering

Distance Education Courses

In fall 1995, 33 percent of 2-year and 4-year

higher education institutions offered distance

education courses (table 21). In 1997–98, this

had grown to 44 percent of 2-year and 4-year

higher education institutions. Growth occurred

for all institutional types except private 2-year,

and for all sizes of institutions. The percentage of

public 2-year institutions offering distance

education courses grew from 58 percent to

72 percent, and the percentage of public 4-year

institutions offering distance education courses

increased from 62 percent to 79 percent. While

distance education continued to be offered more

frequently by public institutions, the percentage

of private 4-year institutions offering distance

education was approximately double in 1997–98

(22 percent) what it was in 1995 (12 percent).
48

In both 1995 and 1997–98, large percentages of

private 2-year and private 4-year institutions did

not offer and did not plan to offer distance

education in the next 3 years (table 21). Other

findings from the 1995 study suggest that some of

the major reasons that institutions do not plan to

offer distance education in the next few years are

a perceived lack of fit between distance education

and the institution’s mission, a perceived lack of

need for distance education, program development costs, and a limited technological infrastructure to support distance education Mulugetta

and Mulugetta 1999; U.S. Department of

Education 1997). These reasons may be

particularly important for private institutions,

especially private 2-year institutions, since private

institutions are smaller than public institutions,

often have fewer financial resources available to

them since they do not receive public funding,

and usually have different institutional missions

and constituencies.

Table 21.—Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions according to

current or planned offering of distance education courses, by institutional

characteristics: Fall 1995 and 1997–98

Offered distance education

Planned to offer distance

education in the

next 3 years

Did not offer and did not plan

Institutional characteristic to offer in the next 3 years

1995 1997–98 1995 1997–98 1995 1997–98

All institutions.................................................... 33 44 25 21 42 35

Institutional type

Public 2-year ...................................................... 58 72 28 19 14 9

Private 2-year ..................................................... 2 6 14 24 84 70

Public 4-year ...................................................... 62 79 23 12 14 9

Private 4-year ..................................................... 12 22 27 25 61 53

Size of institution

Less than 3,000................................................... 16 27 27 26 56 47

3,000 to 9,999..................................................... 61 75 24 13 15 11

10,000 or more ................................................... 76 87 14 8 10 5

NOTE: Percentages are computed across each row for each year. Percentages for 1995 are based on an estimated 3,460 higher education

institutions, and for 1997–98 are based on an estimated 3,580 higher education institutions. Percentages may not sum to totals because of

rounding.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary

Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
49

Number of Distance Education

Courses Offered

In the 1994–95 academic year, an estimated

25,730 distance education courses with different

catalog numbers were offered by 2-year and 4-

year higher education institutions (table 22).18 By

1997–98, the number of courses had grown to

47,540 different college-level, credit-granting

distance education courses, and 52,270 different

distance education courses for any level or

audience. Thus, the number of distance education

courses offered was approximately double in

1997–98 what it was in 1994–95. Public 2-year,

public 4-year, and private 4-year institutions all

experienced this rapid growth in the number of

distance education courses offered. However, the

overall pattern by institutional type in the number

 

18Courses with different catalog numbers excluded multiple sections

of the same course. There was no item nonresponse for the

number of distance education courses in the 1995 study.

of courses offered did not change. That is, most

courses were offered by public 2-year and public

4-year institutions at both points in time. This is

consistent with the distributions of the percentage

of institutions that offered distance education at

both time points (see table 21), and is also

consistent with the findings on course offerings

for all postsecondary institutions in 1997–98 (see

table 6). Taken together, the findings for courses

and institutions suggest that change is more rapid

in the number of distance education course

offerings by institutions, rather than in the

number or percentage of institutions offering

distance education courses. The increased

number of distance education courses is due more

to institutions adding distance education courses

than to an increase in the number of institutions

offering distance education.

Table 22.—Number of different distance education courses offered by 2-year and 4-year higher

education institutions in 1994–95 and 1997–98, by institutional characteristics

Institutional characteristic

Total number of distance

education courses with

different catalog numbers

offered in 1994–951

Total number of different

distance education courses for

any level or audience offered

in 1997–982

Number of different collegelevel, credit-granting distance

education courses offered in

1997–982

All institutions..................................... 25,730 52,270 47,540

Institutional type3

Public 2-year........................................ 10,150 20,210 18,670

Public 4-year........................................ 11,470 23,390 20,500

Private 4-year ...................................... 4,030 8,420 8,120

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.................................... 6,070 13,980 12,090

3,000 to 9,999...................................... 7,970 17,020 15,910

10,000 or more .................................... 11,700 21,260 19,550

1

Includes information for the estimated 1,130 higher education institutions that offered distance education courses in fall 1995. The data for

1994–95 were not imputed for item nonresponse. However, there was no item nonresponse for the number of distance education courses offered.

2

Includes information for the estimated 1,590 higher education institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

3Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other institutional

characteristics.

NOTE: Numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding and not reporting where there are too few cases for a reliable estimate.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education

Institutions, 1998–1999.
50

Enrollment in Distance

Education Courses

There were an estimated 753,640 formal

enrollments in distance education courses at 2-

year and 4-year higher education institutions in

the 1994–95 academic year (table 23).19 By

1997–98, the number of enrollments had grown to

1,343,580 enrollments in college-level, creditgranting distance education courses, and

1,632,350 enrollments in all distance education

courses.20 Thus, as with courses, distance

education enrollments overall were approximately

double in 1997–98 what they were in 1994–95.

Public 2-year, public 4-year, and private 4-year

institutions all experienced rapid growth in

enrollments. For public 4-year institutions, the

number of enrollments in all distance education

 

19The data for the 1995 study were not imputed for item

nonresponse. However, only 0.6 percent of the institutions

offering distance education courses did not report the number of

enrollments in those courses.

20In both studies, if a student was enrolled in multiple courses,

institutions were instructed to count the student for each course in

which he or she was enrolled. Thus, enrollments may include

duplicated counts of students.

courses was approximately triple in 1997–98

(711,350) what it was in 1994–95 (234,020).

Enrollment growth was somewhat less at these

public 4-year institutions for college-level, creditgranting distance education courses, with 452,600

enrollments in 1997–98. As with the number of

courses offered, most of the enrollments in all

types of distance education courses in both years

were in public 2-year and public 4-year

institutions.

The patterns of increases in enrollment and

course offerings and the percentage of institutions

offering distance education, when considered

together, reinforce the suggestion that while more

institutions began to offer distance education, the

most dramatic changes were in the number of

distance education courses and enrollments.

Table 23.—Number of enrollments in 1994–95 and 1997–98 in distance education courses offered

by 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions, by institutional characteristics

Institutional characteristic

Total number of formal

enrollments in distance

education courses in

1994–951

Total number of enrollments

in all distance education

courses in 1997–982

Total number of enrollments

in college-level, creditgranting distance education

courses in 1997–982

All institutions..................................... 753,640 1,632,350 1,343,580

Institutional type3

Public 2-year ....................................... 414,160 712,170 688,710

Public 4-year ....................................... 234,020 711,350 452,600

Private 4-year ...................................... 104,960 206,210 199,650

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.................................... 116,320 353,870 250,870

3,000 to 9,999...................................... 232,750 476,900 461,310

10,000 or more .................................... 404,570 801,570 631,400

1

Includes information for the estimated 1,130 higher education institutions that offered distance education courses in fall 1995. The data for

1994–95 were not imputed for item nonresponse. However, only 0.6 percent of the institutions offering distance education courses did not report

the number of enrollments in those courses.

2

Includes information for the estimated 1,590 higher education institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

3Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other institutional

characteristics.

NOTE: Numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding and not reporting where there are too few cases for a reliable estimate. Enrollments

may include duplicated counts of students, since institutions were instructed to count a student enrolled in multiple courses for each course in

which he or she was enrolled.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary

Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
51

Degree and Certificate Programs

In fall 1995, 23 percent of the institutions that

offered distance education courses offered

degrees that students could complete by taking

distance education courses exclusively, and 7

percent offered certificates that could be

completed this way (table 24).21 These

percentages were essentially unchanged for

1997–98, with 22 percent having degree

programs and 7 percent having certificate

programs designed to be completed totally

through distance education. Although there was

no change in the percentage of institutions

offering degree and certificate programs, the

number of programs offered increased, from 690

degrees and 170 certificates in fall 199522 to

1,190 degree programs and 330 certificate

programs in 1997–98. Thus, while the percentage

of institutions offering distance education degree

and certificate programs did not increase, the

number of such degree and certificate programs

did grow. This suggests that the growth in degree

and certificate programs was due to increases

among institutions that already offered such

programs, rather than to an increase in the

number of institutions offering such programs.

 

21There was no item nonresponse in the percentage of institutions

offering degrees and certificates in the 1995 study.

22The data for the 1995 study were not imputed for item

nonresponse. However, only 1.3 percent of the institutions

offering distance education courses did not report the number of

degree and certificate programs.

Table 24.—Percent of 2-year and 4-year

higher education institutions

offering distance education courses

that offered distance education

degree and certificate programs,

and the number of such programs

in 1995 and 1997–98

Percent offering

Total number

offered

Type of program

19951

1997–

982

19951

1997–

982

Degree programs ....... 23 22 690 1,190

Certificate

programs................ 7 7 170 330

1Based on the estimated 1,130 higher education institutions that

offered distance education courses in fall 1995. The data for 1995

were not imputed for item nonresponse. There was no item

nonresponse for the percentage of institutions offering degrees and

certificates, and 1.3 percent of the institutions offering distance

education courses did not report the number of degree and certificate

programs.

2Based on the estimated 1,590 higher education institutions that

offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

NOTE: The wording of the questions differed slightly in the two

surveys. In 1995, the survey asked for the number of different

degrees or certificates students can receive by taking distance

education courses exclusively. In 1997–98, the survey asked for the

number of college-level degree or certificate programs based on

credit-granting courses that were designed to be completed totally

through distance education.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at

Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
52

Distance Education Technologies

In 1995, more institutions used two-way

interactive video (57 percent) and one-way

prerecorded video (52 percent) than any of the

other technologies (table 25).23 In 1997–98, the

technologies used by more institutions than any

of the other technologies were Internet courses

using asynchronous computer-based instruction

(60 percent), two-way interactive video (56

percent), and one-way prerecorded video (48

percent).24 Thus, the percentages of institutions

using two-way interactive video and one-way

prerecorded video were comparable in the two

years. However, the percentage of institutions

offering Internet courses using asynchronous

computer-based instruction grew substantially

from 1995 to 1997–98, from 22 percent to 60

percent.25 The percentage of institutions that

offered Internet courses using synchronous

computer-based instruction grew slightly, from 14

percent in 1995 to 19 percent in 1997–98. In

general, use of the remaining technologies

decreased slightly from 1995 to 1997–98.

 

23There was no item nonresponse for these technology items in the

1995 study.

24Information was not collected in either year about the number of

courses offered using each technology, only whether the institution

used it at all (or used it as a primary mode of instruction) for

distance education courses.

25In 1997–98, the wording of the computer-based technologies was

changed to more accurately reflect how these technologies are

used. In 1995, the categories were two-way online (computerbased) interactions during instruction, and other computer-based

technology (e.g., Internet). In 1997–98, the categories were

Internet courses using synchronous (i.e., simultaneous) computerbased instruction (e.g., interactive computer conferencing or

Interactive Relay Chat), and Internet courses using asynchronous

(i.e., not simultaneous) computer-based instruction (e.g., e-mail,

listserves, and most World Wide Web-based courses). For the

comparisons presented in this chapter, two-way online (computerbased) interactions during instruction is considered to be

approximately equivalent to Internet courses using synchronous

computer-based instruction, and other computer-based technology

(e.g., Internet) is considered to be approximately equivalent to

Internet courses using asynchronous computer-based instruction.

Table 25.—Percent of 2-year and 4-year

higher education institutions

offering distance education

courses that used various types of

technologies to deliver distance

education courses in 1995 and

1997–98

Technology 199511997–982

Two-way video with two-way audio

(two-way interactive video)............... 57 56

One-way video with two-way audio ...... 24 14

One-way live video................................ 9 6

One-way prerecorded video................... 52 48

Audiographics ....................................... 3 (†)

Two-way audio transmission................. 11 5

One-way audio transmission.................. 10 5

Internet courses using synchronous

computer-based instruction................ (†) 19

Internet courses using asynchronous

computer-based instruction................ (†) 60

Two-way online (computer-based)

interactions during instruction ........... 14 (†)

Other computer-based technology

(e.g., Internet).................................... 22 (†)

CD-ROM............................................... (†) 7

Multi-mode packages ............................ (†) 8

Other technologies................................. 5 2

†Statistic not estimated for that year.

1Based on the estimated 1,130 higher education institutions that

offered distance education courses in fall 1995. The data for the

1995 study were not imputed for item nonresponse. However, there

was no item nonresponse for these technology items.

2Based on the estimated 1,590 higher education institutions that

offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

NOTE: Percentages for each year sum to more than 100 because

institutions could use more than one type of technology.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at

Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
53

Although the percentage of institutions offering

Internet courses using asynchronous computerbased instruction has nearly tripled, there are a

couple of points to keep in mind about these

results. First, these data only provide information

about whether an institution used the technology

at all, and not about the extent to which it was

used by the institution. That is, an institution that

offered one course using this technology was

counted the same way in these analyses as an

institution that offered all of its courses using this

technology, since information was only collected

about whether an institution used this technology

at all, and not about the number of courses

offered with this technology. Second, while use

of this technology has clearly grown quickly in

the last few years, the percentage of institutions

using it in 1997–98 was about the same as the

percentage of institutions using two-way

interactive video in that year. Thus, distance

education should not be equated with online

(Internet-based) education.

Table 26 shows the percentage of institutions

using selected technologies by institutional type

at both points in time. Across institutional types,

public 4-year institutions were more likely than

other types of institutions to use two-way

interactive video and one-way video with twoway audio at both time points, while public 2-

year institutions were more likely than other types

of institutions to use one-way prerecorded video

at both points in time. The computer-based

technologies show an interesting pattern across

the time points. While these technologies tended

to be used by a larger percentage of public and

private 4-year institutions than public 2-year

institutions in 1995, in general these technologies

were about equally likely to be used by all the

types of institutions in 1997–98.

Table 26.—Percent of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions offering distance education

courses that used selected types of technologies to deliver distance education courses in

1995 and 1997–98, by institutional type

199511997–982

Institutional type3Institutional type3 Technology

Public 2-year Public 4-year Private 4-year Public 2-year Public 4-year Private 4-year

Two-way video with two-way audio (twoway interactive video)............................. 49 78 40 53 80 31

One-way video with two-way audio............ 18 36 14 14 22 3

One-way prerecorded video ........................ 67 42 30 64 44 23

Internet courses using synchronous

computer-based instruction..................... (†) (†) (†) 16 22 21

Internet courses using asynchronous

computer-based instruction..................... (†) (†) (†) 59 58 66

Two-way online (computer-based)

interactions during instruction ................ 8 17 25 (†) (†) (†)

Other computer-based technology (e.g.,

Internet).................................................. 14 26 38 (†) (†) (†)

†Statistic not estimated for that year.

1Based on the estimated 1,130 higher education institutions that offered distance education courses in fall 1995. The data for the 1995 study were

not imputed for item nonresponse. However, there was no item nonresponse for these technology items.

2Based on the estimated 1,590 higher education institutions that offered any distance education courses in 1997–98.

3Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses to make reliable estimates.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary

Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
54

The information in table 26 about technology

usage can also be examined within each

institutional type for the two points in time.

Public 2-year institutions were more likely to use

one-way prerecorded video than any other

technology in 1995; in 1997–98, however, public

2-year institutions were about equally likely to

use one-way prerecorded video, asynchronous

Internet instruction, and two-way interactive

video. Public 4-year institutions were more likely

to use two-way interactive video than any other

technology in both 1995 and 1997–98. No

technology stood out as particularly prevalent for

private 4-year institutions in 1995; in 1997–98,

however, private 4-year institutions were more

likely to use asynchronous Internet instruction

than any other technology.

Summary

Data presented in this chapter indicate that a

number of changes occurred in the time period

between the two studies. For example, between

fall 1995 and 1997–98, the percentage of higher

education institutions offering distance education

courses increased by about one-third, from 33

percent to 44 percent. Growth in the percentage

of institutions offering distance education

occurred for all institutional types except private

2-year institutions, and for all sizes of institutions.

In 1997–98, about three-quarters of the public

2-year and 4-year institutions were offering

distance education courses. The number of

distance education enrollments and course

offerings approximately doubled between 1994–

95 and 1997–98. For public 4-year institutions,

increases in enrollments in all distance education

courses approximately tripled in that time period.

Although the percentages of institutions offering

distance education degree and certificate

programs were unchanged, the number of degree

and certificate programs that were offered nearly

doubled. This pattern suggests that while there is

change in the percentage of institutions offering

distance education, the most dramatic changes

appear to be within the institutions that have been

offering distance education for the past 3 years—

these institutions have greatly increased the

number of distance education courses, enrollments, and degree and certificate programs that

they offer.

With regard to changes in distance education

technologies employed among all higher

education institutions offering any distance

education, the percentages of institutions using

two-way interactive video and one-way

prerecorded video were essentially the same in

1997–98 as in 1995. The use of asynchronous

Internet-based technologies, however, grew from

22 percent of institutions in 1995 to 60 percent of

institutions in 1997–98.
55

8. CONCLUSIONS

This report presents findings for the 12-month

1997–98 academic year about the status of

distance education in all postsecondary education

institutions. It also includes an analysis of trends

in distance education since 1994–95 for the

subset of higher education institutions. In the

most general terms, it finds that distance

education appears to have become a common

feature of many postsecondary education

institutions and that, by their own accounts, it will

become more common in the future.

More specifically, this study found that about

one-third of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions offered any courses through

distance education during 1997–98, and that 25

percent of those that offered any courses through

distance education also offered degree or

certificate programs that could be completed

entirely through distance education. Public

institutions were also found to be more likely to

offer distance education courses than private

institutions. While institutions employed a wide

variety of technologies to deliver distance

education, more institutions were likely to

employ several types of video and the Internetbased technologies than any other modes of

delivery included in the survey.

There were an estimated 1,661,100 enrollments in

distance education courses during 1997–98. The

vast majority of these enrollments were in

college-level, credit-granting courses, mostly at

the undergraduate level. Institutions offered an

estimated 54,470 different distance education

courses in 1997–98. The largest number of

courses were in English, humanities, and the

social and behavioral sciences, and in business

and management. The majority of postsecondary

institutions charged students the same tuition and

fees for distance education courses as they did for

traditional on-campus courses.

Trend analyses reveal that the percentage of

higher education institutions (a subset of all

postsecondary institutions) offering courses

through distance education grew by one-third

from 1995 to 1997–98. The percentage of

institutions offering such degree and certificate

programs remained constant between 1995 and

1997–98. Between 1994–95 and 1997–98, the

number of distance education enrollments and

course offerings and the number of distance

education degree and certificate programs

approximately doubled. This suggests that the

greatest growth in offerings through distance

education at higher education institutions

occurred not so much in terms of the percentage

of institutions offering distance education, but

rather in terms of the number of distance

education course offerings and enrollments of

those institutions that have been offering distance

education since 1995.

While these findings will help to inform

stakeholders—including individuals considering a

postsecondary education, faculty and administrators at postsecondary institutions, providers of

technologies used for distance education, and

policymakers at federal, state, and local levels—

they do not address many of the pertinent

questions about distance education. As described

in the introductory chapter, these questions

include issues related to:

• equity of access to postsecondary education;

• the costs of developing and implementing

distance education programs;

• accreditation of and quality assurance in

distance education programs;

• copyright and intellectual property rights;

• changes in the role of postsecondary faculty

and challenges facing them as a result; and

• pressures on existing organizational structures and arrangements.
56

Given rapidly evolving societal and institutional

trends brought about by changes in technology

(e.g., Carnevale 1991; Kelly 1998; Sherron and

Boettcher 1997), research on distance education

will continue to face fundamental challenges.

These challenges include evolving conceptions

and definitions of distance education26 and the

rise of nontraditional arrangements of postsecondary education institutions and programs,

including the rise of virtual universities. Other

basic challenges facing those conducting research

on distance education include the need to respond

to the information needs of stakeholders in a

timely manner. In this ever-changing environ-

 

26 For example, a definition has recently been developed through the

1998 passage of P.L. 105-244, Amendments to the Higher

Education Act of 1965. This set forth a new legislative definition

of distance education (Title IV, Part G, Section 488): “the term

‘distance education’ means an educational process that is

characterized by the separation, in time or place, between

instructor and student. Such term may include courses offered

principally through the use of (1) television, audio, or computer

transmission, such as open broadcast, closed circuit, cable,

microwave, or satellite transmission; (2) audio or computer

conferencing; (3) video cassettes or discs; or (4) correspondence.”

ment, anecdotal data often must suffice until more

comprehensive studies can be conducted—studies

that remain relevant for only brief periods.

It is a dynamic time for postsecondary education institutions facing the opportunities and

challenges brought by technological innovation.

As Gladieux and Swail (1999) assert, given the

fact that computer and related technologies are

evolving so quickly—and new providers and

brokers of higher education proliferating so

rapidly—no one knows how traditional higher

education will change.
57

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A-1

Appendix A

Survey Methodology and Data Reliability
A-2
A-3

Table of Contents

Page

Postsecondary Education Quick Information System ................................................................ A-5

Sample and Response Rates....................................................................................................... A-5

Sampling and Nonsampling Errors ............................................................................................ A-6

Variances.................................................................................................................................... A-8

Definitions of Analysis Variables .............................................................................................. A-8

Comparing the PEQIS Studies: Technical Notes and Limitations............................................ A-9

Differences in the Samples ............................................................................................. A-9

Variations in Question Wording ..................................................................................... A-10

Background Information ............................................................................................................ A-11

List of Appendix Tables

Table

A Number and percentage distribution of postsecondary education institutions in the

study, and the estimated number and percentage distribution in the nation, for the total

sample and for institutions that offered distance education courses in 1997–98,

by institutional characteristics: 1998–1999........................................................................ A-7
A-4
A-5

Postsecondary Education

Quick Information System

The Postsecondary Education Quick Information

System (PEQIS) was established in 1991 by the

National Center for Education Statistics, U.S.

Department of Education. PEQIS is designed to

conduct brief surveys of postsecondary

institutions or state higher education agencies on

postsecondary education topics of national

importance. Surveys are generally limited to two

or three pages of questions, with a response

burden of about 30 minutes per respondent. Most

PEQIS institutional surveys use a previously

recruited, nationally representative panel of

institutions. The PEQIS panel was originally

selected and recruited in 1991–92. In 1996, the

PEQIS panel was reselected to reflect changes in

the postsecondary education universe that had

occurred since the original panel was selected. A

modified Keyfitz approach was used to maximize

overlap between the 1996 panel and the 1991–92

panel. The sampling frame for the PEQIS panel

recruited in 1996 was constructed from the 1995–

96 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data

System (IPEDS) “Institutional Characteristics”

file. Institutions eligible for the PEQIS frame for

the panel recruited in 1996 included 2-year and 4-

year (including graduate-level) institutions (both

institutions of higher education and other

postsecondary institutions), and less-than-2-year

institutions of higher education located in the 50

states and the District of Columbia: a total of

5,353 institutions.

The PEQIS sampling frame for the panel

recruited in 1996 was stratified by instructional

level (4-year, 2-year, less-than-2-year), control

(public, private nonprofit, private for-profit),

highest level of offering (doctor’s/firstprofessional, master’s, bachelor’s, less than

bachelor’s), total enrollment, and status as either

an institution of higher education or other

postsecondary institution. Within each of the

strata, institutions were sorted by region

(Northeast, Southeast, Central, West), whether

the institution had a relatively high minority

enrollment, and whether the institution had

research expenditures exceeding $1 million. The

sample of 1,669 institutions was allocated to the

strata in proportion to the aggregate square root of

total enrollment. Institutions within a stratum

were sampled with equal probabilities of

selection. The modified Keyfitz approach

resulted in 80 percent of the institutions in the

1996 panel overlapping with the 1991–92 panel.

Panel recruitment was conducted with the 338

institutions that were not part of the overlap

sample. During panel recruitment, 20 institutions

were found to be ineligible for PEQIS, primarily

because they had closed or offered just

correspondence courses. The final unweighted

response rate at the end of PEQIS panel

recruitment with the institutions that were not part

of the overlap sample was 98 percent (312 of the

318 eligible institutions). The final participation

rate across the 1,669 institutions that were

selected for the 1996 panel was 1,628

participating institutions out of 1,634 eligible

institutions. There were 1,634 eligible

institutions because 15 institutions in the overlap

sample were determined to be ineligible for

various reasons.

Each institution in the PEQIS panel was asked to

identify a campus representative to serve as

survey coordinator. The campus representative

facilitates data collection by identifying the

appropriate respondent for each survey and

forwarding the questionnaire to that person.

Sample and Response Rates

The sample for this survey consisted of all of the

institutions in the PEQIS panel, for a sample of

1,612 institutions.27 In October 1998, questionnaires (see appendix C) were mailed to the

PEQIS coordinators at the institutions.

Coordinators were told that the survey was

designed to be completed by the person(s) at the

institution most knowledgeable about the

institution’s distance education course offerings.

Eleven institutions were found to be out of the

scope of the survey because they were closed,

leaving 1,601 eligible institutions. These 1,601

 

27The number of institutions in the PEQIS panel decreased from

1,628 to 1,612 because of institutional closures and mergers.
A-6

institutions represent the universe of

approximately 5,010 2-year and 4-year (including

graduate-level) postsecondary education

institutions in the 50 states and the District of

Columbia. Telephone followup of nonrespondents was initiated in November 1998; data

collection and clarification was completed in

March 1999. For the eligible institutions that

received surveys, an unweighted response rate of

93 percent (1,487 responding institutions divided

by the 1,601 eligible institutions in the sample)

was obtained. The weighted response rate for this

survey was also 93 percent. The unweighted

overall response rate was 93 percent (99.6 percent

panel recruitment participation rate multiplied by

the 92.9 percent survey response rate). The

weighted overall response rate was 92 percent

(99.7 percent weighted panel recruitment

participation rate multiplied by the 92.7 percent

weighted survey response rate).

Weighted item nonresponse rates ranged from 0

percent to 2.6 percent. Item nonresponse rates for

most items were less than 1 percent. The items

with the highest nonresponse rates involved the

numbers of courses and enrollments. Because

one of the major reasons for conducting this

survey was to make national estimates for these

numbers, imputation was implemented for all

item nonresponse in the survey. The imputation

procedures involved a combination of hot-deck

imputation procedures for questions 2, 3, and 4,

involving numbers of courses and enrollments,

and the assignment of modal values from

imputation classes for question 10, concerning

plans for distance education technologies. These

procedures are described in more detail below.

There were 33 institutions, which represent about

4.4 percent of the 753 responding institutions

offering a distance education course, that did not

report one or more data items in questions 2, 3,

and 4. However, only a very few institutions did

not report the numbers of different college-level,

credit-granting courses offered by general fields

of study in question 4. To impute the missing

numbers of courses and enrollments, hot-deck

imputation procedures were used. Hot-deck

imputation selects a donor value from another

institution with similar characteristics to use as

the imputed value. The institutions were grouped

to form imputation classes according to sector

(public, private nonprofit, private for-profit),

institutional level (4-year, 2-year) and enrollment

size class. A donor institution was selected

among the responding institutions within the

imputation class. The donor institution was

selected randomly, if the total number of credit

granting courses and total enrollment were not

reported. However, if these totals were reported,

the institution with the closest totals to the

recipient institution was selected as the donor. If

enrollment was not reported but the number of

courses offered was reported, enrollment for a

specific field of study was imputed by

multiplying the reported number of courses

offered by the institution with the ratio of the total

enrollment to the total number of courses offered

for the field of study, computed using the

responding institutions within the imputation

class.

There were 29 institutions (or about 3 percent of

the total number of institutions eligible for

question 10) with missing data in one or more of

the parts of question 10. The imputed items for

question 10 had to be consistent with the

corresponding reported data items in question 9.

The institutions were grouped into imputation

classes according to sector, institutional level,

enrollment size class, and the reported value for

question 9. The reported modal value among the

responding institutions within the imputation

class was assigned as the imputed value for the

missing data item in question 10.

Sampling and Nonsampling Errors

The response data were weighted to produce

national estimates (see table A). The weights

were designed to adjust for the variable

probabilities of selection and differential

nonresponse. The findings in this report are

estimates based on the sample selected and,

consequently, are subject to sampling variability.

The survey estimates are also subject to

nonsampling errors that can arise because of

nonobservation (nonresponse or noncoverage)

errors, errors of reporting, and errors made in data
A-7

collection. These errors can sometimes bias the

data. Nonsampling errors may include such

problems as misrecording of responses; incorrect

editing, coding, and data entry; differences related

to the particular time the survey was conducted;

or errors in data preparation. While general

sampling theory can be used in part to determine

how to estimate the sampling variability of a

statistic, nonsampling errors are not easy to

measure and, for measurement purposes, usually

require that an experiment be conducted as part of

the data collection procedures or that data

external to the study be used.

Table A.—Number and percentage distribution of postsecondary education institutions in the

study, and the estimated number and percentage distribution in the nation, for the total

sample and for institutions that offered distance education courses in 1997–98,

by institutional characteristics: 1998–1999

Total sample Offered distance education in 1997–98

Institutional characteristic Respondents National estimate* Respondents National estimate*

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

All institutions....................................... 1,487 100 5,010 100 753 100 1,680 100

Institutional type

Public 2-year.............................................. 422 28 1,230 25 311 41 760 45

Private 2-year............................................. 206 14 1,120 22 15 2 60 3

Public 4-year.............................................. 357 24 610 12 296 39 480 28

Private 4-year............................................. 502 34 2,050 41 131 17 390 23

Size of institution

Less than 3,000 .......................................... 770 52 3,800 76 178 24 730 43

3,000 to 9,999 ............................................ 358 24 820 16 262 35 610 36

10,000 or more........................................... 359 24 400 8 313 42 350 21

*Data presented in all tables are weighted to produce national estimates. The sample was selected with probabilities proportionate to the square

root of total enrollment. Institutions with larger enrollments have higher probabilities of inclusion and lower weights. The weighted numbers of

institutions have been rounded to the nearest 10.

NOTE: Data are for postsecondary education institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Details may not sum to totals because of

rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
A-8

To minimize the potential for nonsampling errors,

the questionnaire was pretested with respondents

at institutions like those that completed the

survey. During the design of the survey and the

survey pretest, an effort was made to check for

consistency of interpretation of questions and to

eliminate ambiguous items. The questionnaire

and instructions were extensively reviewed by the

National Center for Education Statistics, U.S.

Department of Education. Manual and machine

editing of the questionnaire responses were

conducted to check the data for accuracy and

consistency. Cases with missing or inconsistent

items were recontacted by telephone. Data were

keyed with 100 percent verification.

Variances

The standard error is a measure of the variability

of estimates due to sampling. It indicates the

variability of a sample estimate that would be

obtained from all possible samples of a given

design and size. Standard errors are used as a

measure of the precision expected from a

particular sample. If all possible samples were

surveyed under similar conditions, intervals of

1.96 standard errors below to 1.96 standard errors

above a particular statistic would include the true

population parameter being estimated in about

95 percent of the samples. This is a 95 percent

confidence interval. For example, the estimated

percentage of institutions reporting that they

offered distance education courses in 1997–98 is

33.6 percent, and the estimated standard error is

1.0 percent. The 95 percent confidence interval

for the statistic extends from [33.6 - (1.0 times

1.96)] to [33.6 + (1.0 times 1.96)], or from 31.6 to

35.6 percent. Tables of standard errors for each

table and figure in the report are provided in

appendix B.

Estimates of standard errors were computed using

a technique known as jackknife replication. As

with any replication method, jackknife replication

involves constructing a number of subsamples

(replicates) from the full sample and computing

the statistic of interest for each replicate. The

mean squared error of the replicate estimates

around the full sample estimate provides an

estimate of the variances of the statistics.28 To

construct the replications, 51 stratified

subsamples of the full sample were created and

then dropped one at a time to define 51 jackknife

replicates.29 A computer program (WesVarPC),

distributed free of charge by Westat through the

Internet,30 was used to calculate the estimates of

standard errors. WesVarPC is a stand-alone

Windows application that computes sampling

errors for a wide variety of statistics (totals,

percents, ratios, log-odds ratios, general functions

of estimates in tables, linear regression

parameters, and logistic regression parameters).

The test statistics used in the analysis were

calculated using the jackknife variances and thus

appropriately reflected the complex nature of the

sample design. In particular, an adjusted chisquare test using Satterthwaite’s approximation to

the design effect was used in the analysis of the

two-way tables.31 Finally, Bonferroni

adjustments were made to control for multiple

comparisons where appropriate. For example, for

an “experiment-wise” comparison involving g

pairwise comparisons, each difference was tested

at the 0.05/g significance level to control for the

fact that g differences were simultaneously tested.

Definitions of Analysis Variables

The following institutional characteristics were

used as variables for analyzing the survey data:

• Type of institution: public 2-year, private 2-

year, public 4-year, private 4-year. Type was

created from a combination of level (2-year,

4-year) and control (public, private). Twoyear institutions are defined as institutions at

which the highest level of offering is at least

 

28K. Wolter. Introduction to Variance Estimation, Springer-Verlag,

1985.

29Ibid, 183.

30WesVarPC version 2 is available through the Internet at

http://www.westat.com/wesvar /.

31For example, see J.N.K. Rao and A. Scott, “On Chi-square Tests

for Multi-way Contingency Tables with Cell Proportions

Estimated from Survey Data,” Annals of Statistics 12 (1984): 46-

60.
A-9

2 but less than 4 years (below the

baccalaureate degree); 4-year institutions are

those at which the highest level of offering is

4 or more years (baccalaureate or higher

degree).32 Private comprises private

nonprofit and private for-profit institutions;

these private institutions are reported together

because there are too few private for-profit

institutions in the sample for this survey to

report them as a separate category.

Postsecondary education institutions include

both institutions of higher education

(traditional colleges and universities) and

other postsecondary institutions (e.g., allied

health and vocational-technical schools).

Less-than-2-year institutions are not included

in the PEQIS panel or in this survey.

• Size of institution: less than 3,000 students

(small); 3,000 to 9,999 students (medium);

and 10,000 or more students (large).

Comparing the PEQIS Studies:

Technical Notes and Limitations

There are a number of factors that must be

considered when comparing the 1995 and 1997–

98 PEQIS studies. Differences in the samples

and variations in question wording are discussed

here. In addition, the data from the 1995 study

were not imputed for item nonresponse.

However, item nonresponse was very low and did

not substantially affect the results. Item

nonresponse is noted where it occurred when the

data are presented in chapter 7.

Differences in the Samples

The two studies were sent to two somewhat

different groups of institutions. The sample for

the 1995 study consisted of all of the 2-year

and 4-year higher education institutions in the

PEQIS panel selected in 1991–92, which was

based on the 1990–91 IPEDS “Institutional

 

32Definitions for level are from the data file documentation for the

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

“Institutional Characteristics” file, U.S. Department of Education,

National Center for Education Statistics.

Characteristics” file. This sample of 1,274

institutions (of which 1,203 were respondents)

represented the universe of approximately 3,460

higher education institutions at the 2-year and 4-

year level in the 50 states, the District of

Columbia, and Puerto Rico estimated to exist at

the time of the survey. At the time the 1991–92

PEQIS panel was selected, NCES defined higher

education institutions as institutions that are

accredited at the college level by an agency

recognized by the Secretary of the U.S.

Department of Education.33 Higher education

institutions are a subset of all postsecondary

education institutions. The 1995 study was sent

only to higher education institutions in the PEQIS

panel.

The sample for the 1997–98 study consisted of all

of the 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions in the PEQIS panel selected in 1996,

which was based on the 1995–96 IPEDS

“Institutional Characteristics” file. The 1996

PEQIS panel was selected in a way that

maximized the overlap between the 1991–92 and

1996 panels. The 1,601 institutions in the 1997–

98 study represented the universe of

approximately 5,010 postsecondary education

institutions at the 2-year and 4-year level in the

50 states and the District of Columbia estimated

to exist at the time of the survey. At the time the

1996 PEQIS panel was selected, NCES was still

defining higher education institutions in the same

way as it was when the 1991–92 PEQIS panel

was selected. The 1997–98 study was sent to all

postsecondary education institutions in the PEQIS

panel, both higher education and other

postsecondary education institutions. In order to

make comparisons between the two studies, the

data from the 1997–98 study were analyzed for

the subset of higher education institutions. These

1,347 institutions (of which 1,244 were

respondents) represented the universe of

 

33NCES now defines higher education institutions as those

institutions that are eligible for Title IV financial aid programs and

that grant degrees (i.e., awarded at least one associate’s or higher

degree in the previous academic year). In 1997–98, there were

4,096 higher education institutions that met this revised definition,

out of a universe of 9,632 postsecondary education institutions

(U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education

Statistics, Postsecondary Institutions in the United States: 1997–

98. Washington, DC: 1999).
A-10

approximately 3,580 higher education institutions

at the 2-year and 4-year level in the 50 states and

the District of Columbia estimated to exist at the

time of the study. It is the data from this subset

of institutions that are presented in the chapter on

changes in distance education since 1994–95.

Variations in Question Wording

Number of distance education courses offered.

In the 1995 study, institutions were asked for the

total number of distance education courses with

different catalog numbers offered by the

institution in academic year 1994–95. Courses

with different catalog numbers excluded multiple

sections of the same course. In the 1997–98

study, institutions were asked to report the total

number of different distance education courses

(including courses for all levels and audiences),

and the number of different college-level, creditgranting distance education courses offered at the

institution in the 12-month 1997–98 academic

year. If a course had multiple sections or was

offered multiple times during the year,

institutions were instructed to count it as only one

course.

Enrollment in distance education courses. In

1995, institutions that offered any distance

education courses were asked how many students

were formally enrolled in the institution’s

distance education courses in academic year

1994–95. In the 1997–98 study, institutions that

offered any distance education courses were

asked about the total enrollment in all distance

education courses in the 12-month 1997–98

academic year (including enrollments in courses

designed for all levels and types of students,

including elementary/secondary, adult education,

etc.), and the enrollment in college-level, creditgranting distance education courses in 1997–98.

In both studies, if a student was enrolled in

multiple courses, institutions were instructed to

count the student for each course in which he or

she was enrolled. Thus, enrollments may include

duplicated counts of students.

Degree and certificate programs. In 1995,

institutions were asked whether students could

complete degrees or certificates by taking

distance education courses exclusively, and if so,

how many different degrees or certificates could

be received in this way. In the 1997–98 study,

institutions were asked if they had any collegelevel degree or certificate programs based on

credit-granting courses designed to be completed

totally through distance education, and if so, how

many such degree and certificate programs they

had. In 1997–98, they were also instructed to

include programs that may require a small

amount of on-campus coursework or labwork,

clinical work in hospitals, or similar arrangements, and to include baccalaureate degree

completion programs.

Distance education technologies. In 1995,

institutions were asked which types of technology

they used to deliver their distance education

courses. In 1997–98, institutions were asked

which types of technology they used as a primary

mode of instructional delivery for distance

education courses. An individual course could

only have one predominant mode of delivery.

Institutions could, however, indicate that they

used many different technologies as primary

modes of instructional delivery across all of their

distance education courses, since different

distance education courses could use different

types of technology. Information was not

collected in either year about the number of

courses offered using each technology, only

whether the institution used it at all (or used it as

a primary mode of instruction) for distance

education courses.

The lists of technologies in the 2 years were

similar but not identical. The incidence of

audiographics was so low in 1995 that it was not

included as a separate category in 1997–98. CDROM and multi-mode packages were added as

categories in 1997–98. The wording of the

computer-based technologies was changed to

more accurately reflect how these technologies

are used. In 1995, the categories were two-way

online (computer-based) interactions during

instruction, and other computer-based technology

(e.g., Internet). In 1997–98, the categories were

Internet courses using synchronous (i.e.,

simultaneous) computer-based instruction (e.g.,

interactive computer conferencing or Interactive

Relay Chat), and Internet courses using
A-11

asynchronous (i.e., not simultaneous) computerbased instruction (e.g., e-mail, listserves, and

most World Wide Web-based courses). For the

comparisons presented in this report, two-way

online (computer-based) interactions during

instruction is compared to Internet courses using

synchronous computer-based instruction, and

other computer-based technology (e.g., Internet)

is compared to Internet courses using

asynchronous computer-based instruction.

Background Information

The survey was performed under contract with

Westat, using the Postsecondary Education Quick

Information System (PEQIS). This is the ninth

PEQIS survey to be conducted. Westat’s Project

Director was Elizabeth Farris, and the Survey

Manager was Laurie Lewis. Bernie Greene was

the NCES Project Officer.

The following individuals reviewed this report:

Outside NCES

• Gary Adams, California Community Colleges

• Stephanie Cronen, American Institutes for

Research

• Ann Hiros, Consortium of Distance

Education

• David Hurst, Education Statistics Services

Institute

• James Lubell, Office of Postsecondary

Education, U.S. Department of Education

• Becky Smerdon, American Institutes for

Research

• Karen Spahn, University of Phoenix

Inside NCES

• Ellen Bradburn, Early Childhood,

International, and Crosscutting

Studies Division

• Chris Chapman, Early Childhood,

International, and Crosscutting

Studies Division

• Paula Knepper, Postsecondary Studies

Division

• Roslyn Korb, Postsecondary Studies Division

• Marilyn McMillen, Chief Statistician

For more information about the Postsecondary

Education Quick Information System or the

Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary

Education Institutions, contact:

Bernie Greene

Early Childhood, International, and

Crosscutting Studies Division

National Center for Education Statistics

Office of Educational Research

and Improvement

U.S. Department of Education

555 New Jersey Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20208-5651

Email: Bernard_Greene@ed.gov

Telephone: (202) 219-1366
A-12
B-1

Appendix B

Tables of Standard Errors
B-2
B-3

Table of Contents

Standard Error Tables for Text Tables and Figures

Table Page

1a Standard errors of the percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in the nation, and the percentage distribution of students

enrolled at those institutions, by institutional characteristics: 1997–98 ........................... B-7

2a Standard errors of the number and percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary education institutions that offered distance education courses in

1997–98, that planned to offer them in the next 3 years, and that did not offer and did

not plan to offer them in the next 3 years, by institutional characteristics ........................ B-8

3a Standard errors of the percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions that offered distance education courses in 1997–98, and the

percentage distribution of students enrolled at those institutions, by institutional

characteristics .................................................................................................................... B-9

4a Standard errors of the total number of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions, and the number and percent of institutions in the nation that offered

distance education courses in 1997–98, by level of institutional offerings....................... B-10

5a Standard errors of the total number of enrollments in all distance education courses,

and the number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance education

courses offered by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in

1997–98, by institutional characteristics ........................................................................... B-11

6a Standard errors of the total number of different distance education courses, and the

number of different college-level, credit-granting distance education courses offered

by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by

institutional characteristics ................................................................................................ B-12

7a Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering any distance education courses in 1997–98 that offered collegelevel, credit-granting distance education courses in various fields of study in

1997–98, by course level and field.................................................................................... B-13

8a Standard errors of the percent of all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering any distance education courses in 1997–98 that offered collegelevel, credit-granting distance education courses in various fields of study in

1997–98, by institutional type and field ............................................................................ B-14

9a Standard errors of the number of different college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses offered in various fields by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in 1997–98, by course level and field............................................. B-15

10a Standard errors of the number of different college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses offered in various fields by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional type and field..................................... B-16
B-4

Table of Contents (continued)

Standard Error Tables for Text Tables and Figures (continued)

Table Page

11a Standard errors of the number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting

distance education courses offered in various fields at 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by course level and field..................... B-17

12a Standard errors of the number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting

distance education courses offered in various fields at 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional type and field ............. B-18

13a Standard errors of the percent of all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering any distance education courses in 1997–98, and the percent that

had college-level degree or certificate programs designed to be completed totally

through distance education in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics ........................... B-19

14a Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering any distance education courses in 1997–98 that had college-level

degree or certificate programs in various fields that were designed to be completed

totally through distance education, by level and field ....................................................... B-20

15a Standard errors of the number of college-level degree and certificate programs

designed to be completed totally through distance education offered by 2-year and

4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional

characteristics .................................................................................................................... B-21

16a Standard errors of the number of college-level degree programs in selected fields

designed to be completed totally through distance education offered by 2-year and

4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by level and field ..................... B-22

17a Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering distance education courses in 1997–98 indicating that the

institution used various types of technology as a primary mode of instructional

delivery for distance education courses in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics........ B-23

18a Standard errors of the percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions that offered distance education in 1997–98 or that planned to

offer distance education in the next 3 years according to their plans for the next

3 years concerning the number of distance education courses that will be offered,

by type of technology that will be used as the primary mode of instructional delivery .... B-24

19a Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering distance education in 1997–98 or planning to offer distance

education in the next 3 years that planned to start or increase their use of various

types of technologies as the primary mode of instructional delivery during the next

3 years................................................................................................................................ B-25
B-5

Table of Contents (continued)

Standard Error Tables for Text Tables and Figures (continued)

Table Page

20a Standard errors of the percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions offering distance education courses in 1997–98 according to

how tuition charges for college-level, credit-granting courses offered through

distance education compare to tuition charges for equivalent on-campus courses at

their institution, by institutional characteristics................................................................. B-26

21a Standard errors of the percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year higher education

institutions according to current or planned offering of distance education courses,

by institutional characteristics: Fall 1995 and 1997–98 ................................................... B-27

22a Standard errors of the number of different distance education courses offered by

2-year and 4-year higher education institutions in 1994–95 and 1997–98,

by institutional characteristics ........................................................................................... B-28

23a Standard errors of the number of enrollments in 1994–95 and 1997–98 in distance

education courses offered by 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions,

by institutional characteristics ........................................................................................... B-29

24a Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions

offering distance education courses that offered distance education degree and

certificate programs, and the number of such programs in 1995 and 1997–98................. B-30

25a Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions

offering distance education courses that used various types of technologies to deliver

distance education courses in 1995 and 1997–98.............................................................. B-31

26a Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions

offering distance education courses that used selected types of technologies to deliver

distance education courses in 1995 and 1997–98, by institutional type ............................ B-32

27 Standard errors for the figures and for data not shown in tables....................................... B-33
B-6
B-7

Table 1a.—Standard errors of the percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in the nation, and the percentage distribution of students enrolled

at those institutions, by institutional characteristics: 1997–98

Institutional characteristic Institutions Students

All institutions................................................... (†) (†)

Institutional type

Public 2-year...................................................... 0.6 0.3

Private 2-year..................................................... 0.6 0.1

Public 4-year...................................................... 0.2 0.3

Private 4-year..................................................... 0.3 0.3

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.................................................. 0.3 0.2

3,000 to 9,999 .................................................... 0.2 0.3

10,000 or more*................................................. 0.1 0.2

*The estimated standard errors of the percentages of institutions and students are not zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students for these

distributions because the base of the percentage is subject to sampling variability.

†Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 100 percent.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-8

Table 2a.—Standard errors of the number and percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year

postsecondary education institutions that offered distance education courses in 1997–

98, that planned to offer them in the next 3 years, and that did not offer and did not

plan to offer them in the next 3 years, by institutional characteristics

Offered distance education

in 1997–98

Planned to offer distance

education in the

 next 3 years

Did not offer in 1997–98 and

did not plan to offer in the

next 3 years

Institutional characteristic

Total number

of institutions

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

All institutions...................... 41.9 44.5 1.0 77.3 1.5 77.2 1.4

Institutional type

Public 2-year......................... 31.9 24.8 2.5 22.5 1.7 29.6 2.1

Private 2-year........................ 36.0 16.7 1.5 31.2 2.7 44.3 2.8

Public 4-year......................... 8.9 11.5 1.8 9.2 1.5 9.3 1.5

Private 4-year........................ 20.7 30.8 1.5 56.2 2.7 50.3 2.5

Size of institution

Less than 3,000..................... 42.5 42.6 1.2 76.7 2.0 76.4 1.7

3,000 to 9,999....................... 8.3 13.4 1.5 10.2 1.3 11.4 1.4

10,000 or more*.................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

*The estimated standard error is zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students, because all institutions of this size were included in the

sample with certainty.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-9

Table 3a.—Standard errors of the percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions that offered distance education courses in 1997–98, and the

percentage distribution of students enrolled at those institutions, by institutional

characteristics

Institutional characteristic Institutions Students

All institutions................................................... (†) (†)

Institutional type

Public 2-year...................................................... 1.2 0.4

Private 2-year..................................................... 1.0 (††)

Public 4-year...................................................... 0.9 0.4

Private 4-year..................................................... 1.5 0.5

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.................................................. 1.5 0.5

3,000 to 9,999 .................................................... 1.1 0.6

10,000 or more*................................................. 0.5 0.5

*The estimated standard errors of the percentages of institutions and students are not zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students for these

distributions because the base of the percentage is subject to sampling variability.

†Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 100 percent.

††Standard error rounds to less than 0.1.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-10

Table 4a.—Standard errors of the total number of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions, and the number and percent of institutions in the nation that offered

distance education courses in 1997–98, by level of institutional offerings

Offered college-level, credit-granting distance education courses

Offered any distance

education courses Courses at either level Undergraduate courses

Graduate/firstprofessional courses

Level of institutional offerings

Total

number of

institutions

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

All institutions............................... 41.9 44.5 1.0 43.5 0.9 39.4 0.8 28.2 0.6

Institutions with undergraduate

programs................................... 57.2 44.1 1.1 42.3 1.0 38.7 1.0 25.5 0.6

Institutions with graduate/firstprofessional programs............... 44.4 28.1 1.5 27.6 1.5 20.8 1.1 28.0 1.5

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-11

Table 5a.—Standard errors of the total number of enrollments in all distance education courses,

and the number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance education

courses offered by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98,

by institutional characteristics

Number of enrollments in college-level,

credit-granting distance education courses

Institutional characteristic

Total number of

institutions

Number of

institutions that

offered distance

education courses

Total number of

enrollments in all

distance

education courses

Enrollment in

courses at both

levels

Enrollments in

undergraduate

courses

Enrollments in

graduate/

first-professional

courses

All institutions.................. 41.9 44.5 92,368.9 58,551.7 38,877.6 33,368.9

Institutional type1

Public 2-year..................... 31.9 24.8 33,659.8 33,463.4 33,477.3 —

Public 4-year..................... 8.9 11.5 71,539.6 20,451.4 17,704.9 4,831.2

Private 4-year.................... 20.7 30.8 33,498.3 32,993.2 10,340.2 31,202.4

Size of institution

Less than 3,000................. 42.5 42.6 86,730.9 47,902.5 21,935.7 33,207.7

3,000 to 9,999................... 8.3 13.4 33,868.5 33,795.8 32,366.1 5,114.2

10,000 or more2................ 0 0 0 0 0 0

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate. Two-year branches of public 4-year institutions occasionally offer graduate/first-professional level

courses.

1Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

2The estimated standard error is zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students, because all institutions of this size were included in the sample

with certainty.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-12

Table 6a.—Standard errors of the total number of different distance education courses, and the

number of different college-level, credit-granting distance education courses offered by

2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional

characteristics

Number of different college-level,

credit-granting distance education courses offered

Institutional characteristic

Total number of

institutions

Number of

institutions that

offered distance

education courses

Total number of

different distance

education courses

offered

Courses at both

levels

Undergraduate

courses

Graduate/

first-professional

courses

All institutions.................. 41.9 44.5 2,311.9 2,049.4 1,793.0 685.0

Institutional type1

Public 2-year .................... 31.9 24.8 1,064.8 1,043.0 1,047.5 —

Public 4-year .................... 8.9 11.5 1,433.2 1,097.5 947.2 223.7

Private 4-year ................... 20.7 30.8 1,276.9 1,271.5 855.4 680.8

Size of institution

Less than 3,000................. 42.5 42.6 2,079.4 1,781.3 1,574.3 621.5

3,000 to 9,999................... 8.3 13.4 1,021.2 1,007.3 873.4 243.7

10,000 or more2................ 0 0 0 0 0 0

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate. Two-year branches of public 4-year institutions occasionally offer graduate/first-professional level

courses.

1Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

2The estimated standard error is zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students, because all institutions of this size were included in the sample

with certainty.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-13

Table 7a.—Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering any distance education courses in 1997–98 that offered collegelevel, credit-granting distance education courses in various fields of study in 1997–98,

by course level and field

Field

Courses at either

level

Undergraduate

courses

Graduate/

first-professional

courses

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences....................................... 1.6 1.6 1.4

Business and management.............................................................................. 1.7 1.7 1.9

Health professions.......................................................................................... 1.5 1.6 2.0

Physical and biological/life sciences .............................................................. 1.5 1.6 0.8

Mathematics................................................................................................... 1.6 1.6 0.9

Education ....................................................................................................... 1.3 1.2 2.1

Computer science ........................................................................................... 1.3 1.3 1.1

Vocational/technical fields............................................................................. 1.3 1.3 0.4

Engineering .................................................................................................... 0.8 0.7 1.0

Agriculture and natural resources................................................................... 0.6 0.6 0.3

Library and information sciences ................................................................... 0.6 0.5 0.6

Other fields..................................................................................................... 1.5 1.2 2.3

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-14

Table 8a.—Standard errors of the percent of all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering any distance education courses in 1997–98 that offered collegelevel, credit-granting distance education courses in various fields of study in 1997–98,

by institutional type and field

Institutional type*

Field All institutions

Public 2-year Public 4-year Private 4-year

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences..... 1.6 2.1 2.1 3.3

Business and management............................................ 1.7 2.8 2.3 3.7

Health professions........................................................ 1.5 2.4 2.4 2.6

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................ 1.5 2.5 1.9 2.2

Mathematics................................................................. 1.6 2.5 2.0 2.4

Education ..................................................................... 1.3 1.8 2.4 3.2

Computer science ......................................................... 1.3 1.7 1.6 2.6

Vocational/technical fields........................................... 1.3 2.6 1.1 0.7

Engineering .................................................................. 0.8 1.2 1.5 1.5

Agriculture and natural resources................................. 0.6 1.2 1.0 (†)

Library and information sciences ................................. 0.6 1.0 1.2 0.5

Other fields................................................................... 1.5 1.2 1.1 5.1

*Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals.

†Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 0 percent.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-15

Table 9a.—Standard errors of the number of different college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses offered in various fields by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in 1997–98, by course level and field

Field

Courses at both

levels

Undergraduate

courses

Graduate/

first-professional

courses

All fields................................................................................................... 2,049.4 1,793.0 685.0

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences........................................ 738.9 676.3 181.0

Business and management............................................................................... 421.7 390.0 202.5

Health professions........................................................................................... 401.2 230.3 226.6

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................................................... 132.8 133.2 25.1

Mathematics.................................................................................................... 96.4 82.4 38.7

Education ........................................................................................................ 236.1 112.0 221.8

Computer science ............................................................................................ 231.8 188.4 71.2

Vocational/technical fields.............................................................................. 693.3 692.7 —

Engineering ..................................................................................................... 199.3 113.0 126.6

Agriculture and natural resources.................................................................... 51.5 51.2 —

Library and information sciences .................................................................... 35.5 20.6 20.6

Other fields...................................................................................................... 401.2 726.3 359.6

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-16

Table 10a.—Standard errors of the number of different college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses offered in various fields by 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional type and field

Institutional type*

Field All institutions

Public 2-year Public 4-year Private 4-year

All fields................................................................ 2,049.4 1,043.0 1,097.5 1,271.5

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences..... 738.9 442.2 468.4 289.9

Business and management............................................ 421.7 234.4 251.5 349.9

Health professions........................................................ 401.2 139.8 18.4 251.2

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................ 132.8 78.5 97.7 —

Mathematics................................................................. 96.4 47.7 53.3 —

Education ..................................................................... 236.1 68.2 162.7 —

Computer science ......................................................... 231.8 85.2 36.7 —

Vocational/technical fields........................................... 693.3 694.6 39.5 —

Engineering .................................................................. 199.3 — 65.4 —

Agriculture and natural resources................................. 51.5 — 37.7 —

Library and information sciences ................................. 35.5 — 21.2 —

Other fields................................................................... 401.2 261.3 41.8 860.8

*Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals.

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-17

Table 11a.—Standard errors of the number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses offered in various fields at 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in 1997–98, by course level and field

Field

Enrollments in

courses at both

levels

Enrollments in

undergraduate

courses

Enrollments in

graduate/

first-professional

courses

All fields................................................................................................... 58,551.7 38,877.6 33,368.9

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences........................................ 23,494.8 22,175.4 6,207.0

Business and management............................................................................... 8,574.0 7,327.5 3,377.1

Health professions........................................................................................... 6,759.6 5,090.5 3,456.6

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................................................... 6,329.2 6,409.5 415.4

Mathematics.................................................................................................... 2,193.6 2,150.6 204.2

Education ........................................................................................................ 30,247.7 3,375.5 30,317.2

Computer science ............................................................................................ 6,341.0 4,893.4 2,107.0

Vocational/technical fields.............................................................................. 8,129.9 8,095.3 —

Engineering ..................................................................................................... 1,884.0 1,055.1 1,139.0

Agriculture and natural resources.................................................................... 2,495.0 2,499.2 —

Library and information sciences .................................................................... 1,697.8 1,602.0 472.3

Other fields...................................................................................................... 8,817.3 5,893.5 4,555.9

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-18

Table 12a.—Standard errors of the number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance

education courses offered in various fields at 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional type and field

Institutional type*

Field All institutions

Public 2-year Public 4-year Private 4-year

All fields................................................................ 58,551.7 33,463.4 20,451.4 32,993.2

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences..... 23,494.8 19,056.3 8,796.4 7,176.1

Business and management............................................ 8,574.0 4,678.5 5,678.1 5,903.3

Health professions........................................................ 6,759.6 4,121.4 2,875.4 3,096.1

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................ 6,329.2 6,216.2 1,629.2 —

Mathematics................................................................. 2,193.6 1,890.0 969.0 —

Education ..................................................................... 30,247.7 2,713.8 3,287.7 —

Computer science ......................................................... 6,341.0 3,113.5 1,062.6 —

Vocational/technical fields........................................... 8,129.9 6,788.4 606.4 —

Engineering .................................................................. 1,884.0 — 944.9 —

Agriculture and natural resources................................. 2,495.0 — 2,337.3 —

Library and information sciences ................................. 1,697.8 — 506.7 —

Other fields................................................................... 8,817.3 4,349.1 539.5 5,570.3

*Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals.

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-19

Table 13a.—Standard errors of the percent of all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering any distance education courses in 1997–98, and the percent that

had college-level degree or certificate programs designed to be completed totally

through distance education in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics

Had any college-level

degree or certificate

programs

Degree programs Certificate programs

Institutional

characteristic

Offered any

distance

education

courses

All

institutions

Institutions

with

distance

education

courses

Degree

programs at

either level

Undergraduate

degree

programs

Graduate/

firstprofessional

degree

programs

Certificate

programs at

either level

Undergraduate

certificate

programs

Graduate/

firstprofessional

certificate

programs

All institutions........... 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.9 0.9 0.5 1.3

Institutional type1

Public 2-year.............. 2.5 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 (†) 0.8 0.8 (†)

Public 4-year.............. 1.8 2.0 2.1 2.0 1.4 2.1 0.9 0.4 0.9

Private 4-year............. 1.5 3.0 3.5 3.0 2.8 3.4 2.4 1.2 2.6

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.......... 1.2 2.1 2.6 2.1 2.1 4.7 1.9 1.1 3.3

3,000 to 9,999............ 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.5 2.1 0.8 0.8 1.2

10,000 or more2......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

†Not applicable for 2-year institutions.

1Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

2The estimated standard error is zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students, because all institutions of this size were included in the sample

with certainty.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-20

Table 14a.—Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering any distance education courses in 1997–98 that had college-level

degree or certificate programs in various fields that were designed to be completed

totally through distance education, by level and field

Degree programs Certificate programs

Field Undergraduate

degree programs

Graduate/

first-professional

degree programs

Undergraduate

certificate

programs

Graduate/

first-professional

certificate

programs

English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences..... 0.4 0.6 (††) 0.6

Business and management............................................ 0.5 1.2 0.2 0.7

Health professions........................................................ 0.4 1.0 0.3 0.8

Physical and biological/life sciences ............................ 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.2

Mathematics................................................................. (†) (††) (†) (††)

Education ..................................................................... 0.3 1.1 0.2 0.2

Computer science ......................................................... 0.3 0.6 0.2 0.3

Vocational/technical fields........................................... 0.5 (††) 0.4 (†)

Engineering .................................................................. 0.3 0.6 (††) 0.3

Agriculture and natural resources................................. 0.1 (††) 0.2 (††)

Library and information sciences ................................. (†) (††) (††) (††)

Liberal/general studies.................................................. 0.6 (††) (†) (†)

Other fields................................................................... 0.5 0.7 0.2 (†)

†Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 0 percent.

††Standard error rounds to less than 0.1.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-21

Table 15a.—Standard errors of the number of college-level degree and certificate programs

designed to be completed totally through distance education offered by 2-year and

4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics

Degree programs Certificate programs

Institutional characteristic Degree

programs at

both levels

Undergraduate

degree

programs

Graduate/

firstprofessional

degree

programs

Certificate

programs at

both levels

Undergraduate

certificate

programs

Graduate/

firstprofessional

certificate

programs

All institutions..................................... 71.8 39.9 53.0 46.0 25.9 31.1

Institutional type1

Public 2-year ....................................... 23.3 23.3 (†) — — (†)

Public 4-year ....................................... 58.1 17.7 46.7 — — —

Private 4-year ...................................... 53.6 36.0 0.0 — — —

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.................................... 49.5 — — — — —

3,000 to 9,999...................................... 54.5 19.6 — — — —

10,000 or more2................................... 0 0 0 — — —

†Not applicable for 2-year institutions.

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

1Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

2The estimated standard error is zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students, because all institutions of this size were included in the sample

with certainty.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-22

Table 16a.—Standard errors of the number of college-level degree programs in selected fields

designed to be completed totally through distance education offered by 2-year and

4-year postsecondary education institutions in 1997–98, by level and field

Field

Undergraduate degree

programs

Graduate/firstprofessional degree

programs

Business and management.............................................................................................. 17.8 32.9

Health professions.......................................................................................................... — 16.2

Education ....................................................................................................................... — 10.0

Engineering .................................................................................................................... — 14.5

Liberal/general studies.................................................................................................... 10.3 —

—Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-23

Table 17a.—Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering distance education courses in 1997–98 indicating that the

institution used various types of technology as a primary mode of instructional

delivery for distance education courses in 1997–98, by institutional characteristics

Institutional

characteristic

Two-way

video

with twoway

audio

(two-way

interactive

video)

One-way

video

with twoway

audio

One-way

live video

One-way

prerecorded

video

Two-way

audio

transmission

One-way

audio

transmission

Internet

courses

using

synchronous

computerbased

instruction

Internet

courses

using

asynchronous

computerbased

instruction

CD-ROM

Multimode

packages

Other

technologies

All institutions...... 1.7 0.9 0.7 1.8 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.6 5.4 0.7 0.5

Institutional type1

Public 2-year......... 3.1 1.9 1.1 2.7 1.2 0.7 1.7 2.3 1.2 1.2 0.4

Public 4-year......... 1.6 1.3 1.0 2.1 1.1 0.9 1.5 2.3 1.1 1.3 0.4

Private 4-year........ 3.8 0.9 (†) 4.5 3.8 4.1 3.1 4.3 1.2 1.2 0.4

Size of institution

Less than 3,000..... 3.6 1.8 1.4 3.4 2.3 2.4 2.4 3.1 1.2 0.9 1.1

3,000 to 9,999....... 1.9 1.1 1.2 2.2 1.0 0.9 1.7 2.3 1.3 1.7 0.6

10,000 or more2.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

†Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 0 percent.

1Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

2The estimated standard error is zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students, because all institutions of this size were included in the sample

with certainty.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-24

Table 18a.—Standard errors of the percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions that offered distance education in 1997–98 or that planned to

offer distance education in the next 3 years according to their plans for the next 3

years concerning the number of distance education courses that will be offered, by

type of technology that will be used as the primary mode of instructional delivery

Technology

Reduce the

number

Keep the same

number

Start or increase

the number

No plans to use

the technology

Two-way video with two-way audio (two-way

interactive video)..................................................... 0.2 0.6 1.4 1.2

One-way video with two-way audio............................. 0.1 0.3 1.6 1.6

One-way live video ...................................................... 0.3 0.2 0.9 1.0

One-way prerecorded video ......................................... 0.1 0.9 1.6 1.5

Two-way audio transmission ....................................... 0.2 0.6 0.8 1.0

One-way audio transmission ........................................ 0.2 0.2 0.9 1.0

Internet courses using synchronous computer-based

instruction................................................................ 0.1 0.2 1.8 1.7

Internet courses using asynchronous computerbased instruction...................................................... (†) 0.3 1.5 1.5

CD-ROM ..................................................................... (†) 0.2 1.5 1.5

Multi-mode packages................................................... 0.1 0.2 1.2 1.3

Other technologies ....................................................... 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.5

†Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 0 percent.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-25

Table 19a.—Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education

institutions offering distance education in 1997–98 or planning to offer distance

education in the next 3 years that planned to start or increase their use of various

types of technologies as the primary mode of instructional delivery during the next 3

years

Technology

Institutions that offered

distance education

in 1997–98

Institutions that planned

to offer distance

education in

the next 3 years

Two-way video with two-way audio (two-way interactive video) ................................ 1.4 3.2

One-way video with two-way audio.............................................................................. 1.2 3.4

One-way live video ....................................................................................................... 0.8 2.4

One-way prerecorded video .......................................................................................... 1.5 2.6

Two-way audio transmission ........................................................................................ 0.9 1.7

One-way audio transmission ......................................................................................... 1.2 1.6

Internet courses using synchronous computer-based instruction................................... 1.7 3.8

Internet courses using asynchronous computer-based instruction ................................. 1.3 3.4

CD-ROM ...................................................................................................................... 1.7 2.4

Multi-mode packages.................................................................................................... 1.4 2.2

Other technologies ........................................................................................................ 0.6 1.0

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-26

Table 20a.—Standard errors of the percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary

education institutions offering distance education courses in 1997–98 according to how

tuition charges for college-level, credit-granting courses offered through distance

education compare to tuition charges for equivalent on-campus courses at their

institution, by institutional characteristics

Institutional characteristic

Tuition charges are

always higher for

distance education

courses than for oncampus courses

Tuition charges are

always lower for distance

education courses than

for on-campus courses

Tuition charges are

always the same for both

distance education and

on-campus courses

Tuition charges for

distance education

courses are sometimes the

same as, and sometimes

different than, tuition

charges for on-campus

courses

All institutions.............................. 0.8 0.6 1.3 1.1

Institutional type1

Public 2-year................................. 0.9 (†) 1.4 1.2

Public 4-year................................. 1.0 0.5 2.1 2.0

Private 4-year................................ 1.5 2.5 3.6 3.3

Size of institution

Less than 3,000............................. 1.7 1.3 2.7 2.2

3,000 to 9,999............................... 1.1 0.5 1.6 1.7

10,000 or more2............................ 0 0 0 0

†Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 0 percent.

1Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses in 1997–98 to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other

institutional characteristics.

2The estimated standard error is zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students, because all institutions of this size were included in the sample

with certainty.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-27

Table 21a.—Standard errors of the percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year higher education

institutions according to current or planned offering of distance education courses, by

institutional characteristics: Fall 1995 and 1997–98

Offered distance education

Planned to offer distance

education in the

 next 3 years

Did not offer and did not plan

Institutional characteristic to offer in the next 3 years

1995 1997–98 1995 1997–98 1995 1997–98

All institutions........................................... 1.0 1.1 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.5

Institutional type

Public 2-year.............................................. 1.9 2.4 2.1 2.1 1.7 1.8

Private 2-year............................................. 1.0 1.8 3.2 4.1 3.3 4.2

Public 4-year.............................................. 2.0 1.9 2.2 1.5 2.2 1.5

Private 4-year............................................. 1.2 1.6 2.6 2.8 2.9 2.6

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.......................................... 1.2 1.6 2.3 2.4 2.2 2.1

3,000 to 9,999............................................ 2.0 1.5 1.8 1.2 1.2 1.3

10,000 or more*......................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0

*The estimated standard error is zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students, because all institutions of this size were included in the

samples for both studies with certainty.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary

Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-28

Table 22a.—Standard errors of the number of different distance education courses offered by

2-year and 4-year higher education institutions in 1994–95 and 1997–98,

by institutional characteristics

Institutional characteristic

Total number of distance

education courses with

different catalog numbers

offered in 1994–95

Total number of different

distance education courses for

any level or audience offered

in 1997–98

Number of different collegelevel, credit-granting distance

education courses offered in

1997–98

All institutions..................................... 1,553.8 1,987.9 1,693.9

Institutional type1

Public 2-year ....................................... 688.7 1,079.0 1,056.7

Public 4-year ....................................... 631.7 1,433.2 1,097.5

Private 4-year ...................................... 871.8 968.9 959.3

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.................................... 1,414.7 1,726.3 1,375.3

3,000 to 9,999...................................... 663.2 1,019.3 1,005.4

10,000 or more2................................... 0 0 0

1Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other institutional

characteristics.

2The estimated standard error is zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students, because all institutions of this size were included in the

samples for both studies with certainty.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary

Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-29

Table 23a.—Standard errors of the number of enrollments in 1994–95 and 1997–98 in distance

education courses offered by 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions, by

institutional characteristics

Institutional characteristic

Total number of formal

enrollments in distance

education courses in 1994–95

Total number of enrollments

in all distance education

courses in 1997–98

Total number of enrollments

in college-level, creditgranting distance education

courses in 1997–98

All institutions..................................... 30,045.7 90,438.2 57,947.8

Institutional type1

Public 2-year ....................................... 23,587.1 33,956.5 33,754.5

Public 4-year ....................................... 13,559.1 71,539.6 20,451.4

Private 4-year ...................................... 13,079.0 33,412.8 32,962.2

Size of institution

Less than 3,000.................................... 21,339.5 83,950.5 47,096.2

3,000 to 9,999...................................... 22,337.5 33,946.2 33,873.7

10,000 or more2................................... 0 0 0

1Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses to make reliable estimates. Data for private 2-year institutions are included in the totals and in analyses by other institutional

characteristics.

2The estimated standard error is zero for institutions with 10,000 or more students, because all institutions of this size were included in the

samples for both studies with certainty.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary

Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-30

Table 24a.—Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions

offering distance education courses that offered distance education degree and

certificate programs, and the number of such programs in 1995 and 1997–98

Percent offering Total number offered

Type of program

1995 1997–98 1995 1997–98

Degree programs..................................... 1.7 0.9 70.3 70.9

Certificate programs................................ 1.0 0.8 17.8 45.6

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary

Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-31

Table 25a.—Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions

offering distance education courses that used various types of technologies to deliver

distance education courses in 1995 and 1997–98

Technology 1995 1997–98

Two-way video with two-way audio (two-way interactive video)............................................. 1.5 1.6

One-way video with two-way audio.......................................................................................... 1.3 0.9

One-way live video.................................................................................................................... 0.9 0.6

One-way prerecorded video....................................................................................................... 1.6 1.7

Audiographics........................................................................................................................... 0.4 (†)

Two-way audio transmission..................................................................................................... 1.3 0.8

One-way audio transmission ..................................................................................................... 1.7 0.8

Internet courses using synchronous computer-based instruction ............................................... (†) 1.1

Internet courses using asynchronous computer-based instruction.............................................. (†) 1.6

Two-way online (computer-based) interactions during instruction............................................ 1.3 (†)

Other computer-based technology (e.g., Internet)...................................................................... 2.0 (†)

CD-ROM................................................................................................................................... (†) 0.6

Multi-mode packages................................................................................................................ (†) 0.7

Other technologies..................................................................................................................... 1.0 0.3

†Statistic not estimated for that year.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary

Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
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Table 26a.—Standard errors of the percent of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions

offering distance education courses that used selected types of technologies to deliver

distance education courses in 1995 and 1997–98, by institutional type

1995 1997–98

Technology Institutional type* Institutional type*

Public 2-year Public 4-year Private 4-year Public 2-year Public 4-year Private 4-year

Two-way video with two-way audio (twoway interactive video)............................. 2.7 1.6 5.9 3.1 1.6 3.8

One-way video with two-way audio............ 2.2 2.0 5.8 1.7 1.3 0.8

One-way prerecorded video ........................ 2.7 2.1 5.3 2.7 2.1 3.6

Internet courses using synchronous

computer-based instruction..................... (†) (†) (†) 1.8 1.5 3.2

Internet courses using asynchronous

computer-based instruction..................... (†) (†) (†) 2.3 2.3 3.9

Two-way online (computer-based)

interactions during instruction ................ 1.1 1.4 6.6 (†) (†) (†)

Other computer-based technology (e.g.,

Internet).................................................. 2.2 2.0 6.8 (†) (†) (†)

†Statistic not estimated for that year.

*Data for private 2-year institutions are not reported as a separate type of institution because too few of them in the sample offered distance

education courses to make reliable estimates.

SOURCES: 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, and Survey on Distance Education at Postsecondary

Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-33

Table 27.—Standard errors for the figures and for data not shown in tables

Item Estimate Standard error

Figure 1: Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering

distance education courses in 1997–98 according to number of enrollments in distance education

courses

Enrollments in all courses

1-80 enrollments............................................................................................................................ 26 1.6

81-300 enrollments ........................................................................................................................ 26 1.8

301-800 enrollments ...................................................................................................................... 22 1.4

More than 800 enrollments ............................................................................................................ 26 1.0

Enrollments in college-level, credit-granting courses

0 enrollments.................................................................................................................................. 2 0.7

1-80 enrollments............................................................................................................................ 26 1.6

81-300 enrollments ........................................................................................................................ 25 1.6

301-800 enrollments ...................................................................................................................... 22 1.4

More than 800 enrollments ............................................................................................................ 25 1.0

Figure 2: Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering

distance education courses in 1997–98 according to number of distance education courses

Total courses

1-5 courses..................................................................................................................................... 23 1.6

6-15 courses................................................................................................................................... 25 1.8

16-35 courses................................................................................................................................. 28 1.3

More than 35 courses..................................................................................................................... 24 1.3

College-level, credit-granting courses

0 courses........................................................................................................................................ 2 0.7

1-5 courses..................................................................................................................................... 23 1.7

6-15 courses................................................................................................................................... 26 2.0

16-35 courses................................................................................................................................. 27 1.3

More than 35 courses..................................................................................................................... 23 1.3

Figure 3: Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions with

variable charges for distance education courses compared with equivalent on-campus courses in

1997–98 indicating how those tuition charges for distance education courses differ

Always higher .................................................................................................................................... 38 4.2

Always lower...................................................................................................................................... 14 5.1

Sometimes higher and sometimes lower............................................................................................. 48 4.4

Figure 4: Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions offering

distance education courses in 1997–98 indicating whether the institution adds any special fees to

college-level, credit-granting distance education courses that are not added to on-campus courses

Always added..................................................................................................................................... 13 1.1

Sometimes added................................................................................................................................ 21 1.3

Not added ........................................................................................................................................... 66 1.7

Figure 5: Percentage distribution of 2-year and 4-year postsecondary education institutions with the

same tuition for distance education and comparable on-campus courses in 1997–98 indicating whether

the institution adds any special fees to college-level, credit-granting distance education courses that

are not added to on-campus courses

Always added..................................................................................................................................... 11 1.1

Sometimes added................................................................................................................................ 15 1.5

Not added ........................................................................................................................................... 74 1.9

Chapter 6, section on fees

Percent of institutions charging both the same tuition and fees .......................................................... 57 1.7

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey

on Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 1998–1999.
B-34
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Appendix C

Survey Questionnaire
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Information Copy

Do not complete

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FORM APPROVED

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS O.M.B. No.: 1850-0733

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20208-5651 EXPIRATION DATE: 07/1999

DISTANCE EDUCATION AT

POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION QUICK INFORMATION SYSTEM

This survey is authorized by law (P.L. 103-382). While participation in this survey is voluntary, your cooperation is critical

to make the results of this survey comprehensive, accurate, and timely.

Definition of distance education for this survey refers to education or training courses delivered to remote (offcampus) location(s) via audio, video (live or prerecorded), or computer technologies, including both synchronous and

asynchronous instruction. For purposes of this survey, courses conducted exclusively on campus are not included in this

definition of distance education (although some on-campus instruction or testing may be involved); courses conducted

exclusively via written correspondence are also not included (although some instruction may be conducted via written

correspondence). Distance education also does not include courses in which the instructor travels to a remote site to

deliver instruction in person. Distance education courses may include a small amount of on-campus course or lab work,

on-campus exams, or occasional on-campus meetings.

The survey is designed to be completed by the person(s) most knowledgeable about your institution’s distance education

course offerings. Since we are interested in all such courses offered by your institution, we ask that you consult with your

colleagues in other departments/offices that may also offer distance education courses.

IF ABOVE INSTITUTION INFORMATION IS INCORRECT, PLEASE UPDATE DIRECTLY ON LABEL.

Name of Person Completing This Form: _________________________________________________________________

Title/Position: ______________________________________________________________________________________

Telephone Number: ___________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________

THANK YOU. PLEASE KEEP A COPY OF THIS SURVEY FOR YOUR RECORDS.

PLEASE RETURN COMPLETED FORM TO: IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, CONTACT:

Lewis (900442) Laurie Lewis at Westat

WESTAT 800-937-8281, Ext. 8284 or 301-251-8284

1650 Research Boulevard Fax: 800-254-0984

Rockville, Maryland 20850 E-mail: lewisl1@westat.com

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid

OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1850-0733. The time required to complete this

information collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data

resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of

the time estimate or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202-4651. If you

have any comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: National Center for Education

Statistics, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20208.

PEQIS Form No. 9, 10/1998
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Information Copy

Do not complete

1. Did your institution offer any distance education courses (as defined on the front of this questionnaire) in 1997–

1998 (12-month academic year), or plan to offer any such courses in the next 3 years? (Circle only one number.)

Yes, offered courses in 1997–1998 ........................................................ 1 (Continue with question 2.)

Did not offer in 1997–1998, but plan to offer in next 3 years .................. 2 (Skip to question 10.)

No, did not offer in 1997–1998 and do not plan to offer in next 3

years........................................................................................................ 3 (Thank you. Please complete the

respondent section on the front of the questionnaire and return it to Westat.)

2. What was the total number of different distance education courses (including courses for all levels and audiences),

and the number of different college-level, credit-granting distance education courses offered at your institution in

1997–1998 (12-month academic year)?

If a course had multiple sections or was offered multiple times during the academic year, count it as only one

course. The total number of courses includes those designed for all types of students, including

elementary/secondary, college, adult education, etc. College-level courses include both undergraduate and

graduate/first-professional courses.

a. Total number of different distance education courses ________

b. Number of different college-level, credit-granting distance education courses ________

3. What was the total enrollment in all distance education courses, and the enrollment in college-level, creditgranting distance education courses at your institution in 1997–1998 (12-month academic year)?

Enrollments may include duplicated counts of students, i.e., a student should be counted for each course in which

he/she was enrolled. The total includes enrollments in courses designed for all types of students. College-level

courses include both undergraduate and graduate/first-professional courses.

a. Total number of enrollments in all distance education courses ________

b. Number of enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance education courses ________

4. In the following general fields of study, indicate the number of different college-level, credit-granting courses

offered through distance education at your institution in 1997–1998 (12-month academic year), and the number of

enrollments in those courses.

If your institution did not offer any college-level, credit-granting distance education courses in a particular field in

1997–1998, enter 0. If a course had multiple sections or was offered multiple times during the academic year,

count it as only one course. Please report separately for undergraduate and graduate/first-professional courses.

Dual-level courses (i.e., courses that can be taken for either undergraduate or graduate credit) should be reported

as undergraduate courses, and enrollments for these courses should be counted as undergraduate enrollments.

Course enrollments may include duplicated counts, i.e., a student should be counted for each course in which

he/she was enrolled.

NOTE: The sum of the number of undergraduate and graduate/first-professional courses across the fields of study

(i.e., the sum of columns 1 and 3) should equal the number of courses given in question 2b. The sum of the

number of undergraduate and graduate/first-professional enrollments across the fields of study (i.e., the sum of

columns 2 and 4) should equal the number of enrollments given in question 3b.

Undergraduate Graduate/first-professional

Field 1.

Number of

courses

2.

Number of

enrollments

3.

Number of

courses

4.

Number of

enrollments

a. Agriculture and natural resources

b. Business and management

c. Education

d. Engineering

e. Mathematics

f. Computer science

g. Physical and biological/life sciences

h. English, humanities, social/behavioral sciences

i. Library and information sciences

j. Health professions

k. Vocational/technical fields

l. Other fields (specify)
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Information Copy

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5. In academic year 1997–1998, did your institution have any college-level degree or certificate programs designed to

be completed totally through distance education? (Include only degree or certificate programs that are based on

credit-granting courses; include programs that may require a small amount of on-campus course or lab work,

clinical work in hospitals, or similar arrangements, and baccalaureate degree completion programs.)

Yes .................. 1 (Continue with question 6.) No .................... 2 (Skip to question 7.)

6. How many different college-level degree or certificate programs designed to be completed totally through distance

education did your institution offer in 1997–1998 (12-month academic year)? (Include only degree or certificate

programs that are based on credit-granting courses; include programs that may require a small amount of oncampus course or lab work, clinical work in hospitals, or similar arrangements, and baccalaureate degree

completion programs.)

Please report separately for undergraduate and graduate/first-professional programs, and for degree and certificate

programs. Report the total number of programs, and then provide a breakout of the total by field of study.

Undergraduate Graduate/firstDistance education degree and certificate programs professional

Degree Certificate Degree Certificate

A. Total number of distance education degree and certificate programs based

on credit-granting courses

B. Field of study for credit-based degree and certificate programs:

(Sum of a through m below must equal the totals given on line A.)

a. Agriculture and natural resources

b. Business and management

c. Education

d. Engineering

e. Mathematics

f. Computer science

g. Physical and biological/life sciences

h. English, humanities, social and behavioral sciences

i. Library and information sciences

j. Health professions

k. Vocational/technical fields

l. Liberal/general studies

m. Other (specify)

7. How do the tuition charges for college-level, credit-granting courses offered through distance education at your

institution compare to tuition charges for equivalent on-campus courses? (Circle only one number.)

Tuition charges are always higher for distance education courses than for on-campus courses .. 1

Tuition charges are always lower for distance education courses than for on-campus courses.... 2

Tuition charges are always the same for both distance education and on-campus courses ......... 3

Tuition charges for distance education courses are sometimes the same as, and sometimes

 different than, tuition charges for on-campus courses................................................................. 4

 When different, the tuition charges for distance education courses are: (Circle only one number.)

Always higher than for on-campus courses ............................................. 1

Always lower than for on-campus courses............................................... 2

Sometimes higher and sometimes lower than for on-campus courses ... 3

8. Does your institution add any special fees to college-level, credit-granting distance education courses (e.g., fees

that depend on delivery format or location) that are not added to on-campus courses? (Circle only one number.)

Yes, special fees are always added.............................. 1

Yes, special fees are sometimes added ....................... 2

No, special fees are not added...................................... 3
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Information Copy

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9. Which types of technology did your institution use as a primary mode of instructional delivery for distance

education courses in 1997–1998 (12-month academic year)? Circle all the technologies that any distance

education course used as a primary mode of delivery. If a course used multiple technologies to deliver instruction,

but one mode predominated, circle the predominant mode for the course.

a. Two-way video with two-way audio (i.e., two-way interactive video) ........................................................... 1

b. One-way video with two-way audio.............................................................................................................. 2

c. One-way live video ....................................................................................................................................... 3

d. One-way prerecorded video (including prerecorded videotapes provided to students, and television

broadcast and cable transmission using prerecorded video)....................................................................... 4

e. Two-way audio transmission (e.g., audio/phone conferencing)................................................................... 5

f. One-way audio transmission (including radio broadcast and prerecorded audiotapes provided

to students)................................................................................................................................................... 6

g. Internet courses using synchronous (i.e., simultaneous or “real time”) computer-based instruction

(e.g., interactive computer conferencing or Interactive Relay Chat)............................................................ 7

h. Internet courses using asynchronous (i.e., not simultaneous) computer-based instruction (e.g., e-mail,

listservs, and most World Wide Web-based courses) ................................................................................. 8

i. CD-ROM....................................................................................................................................................... 9

j. Multi-mode packages (i.e., a mix of technologies that cannot be assigned to a primary mode) ................. 10

(specify technologies used) ____________________________________________________________

k. Other technologies (specify) ___________________________________________________________ 11

10. In the next 3 years, what are your institution’s plans concerning the number of distance education courses that will

be offered using the following technologies as the primary mode of instructional delivery? If a course will use

multiple technologies to deliver instruction, but one mode will predominate, consider the course under the

predominant mode. (Circle one number on each line.)

Keep same Start or No

Reduce number increase plans

a. Two-way video with two-way audio (i.e., two-way interactive video) 1 2 3 4

b. One-way video with two-way audio................................................... 1 2 3 4

c. One-way live video ............................................................................ 1 2 3 4

d. One-way prerecorded video (including prerecorded videotapes

provided to students, and television broadcast and cable

transmission using prerecorded video) ............................................. 1 2 3 4

e. Two-way audio transmission (e.g., audio/phone conferencing)........ 1 2 3 4

f. One-way audio transmission (including radio broadcast and

prerecorded audiotapes provided to students) ................................. 1 2 3 4

g. Internet courses using synchronous (i.e., simultaneous or “real

time”) computer-based instruction (e.g., interactive computer

conferencing or Interactive Relay Chat)............................................ 1 2 3 4

h. Internet courses using asynchronous (i.e., not simultaneous)

computer-based instruction (e.g., e-mail, listservs, and most

World Wide Web-based courses) ..................................................... 1 2 3 4

i. CD-ROM............................................................................................ 1 2 3 4

j. Multi-mode packages (i.e., a mix of technologies that cannot be

assigned to a primary mode)............................................................. 1 2 3 4

(specify technologies to be used)___________________________

k. Other technologies (specify) ______________________________ 1 2 3 4

Thank you. Please keep a copy for your records.