Employers also have found online education and training to be an efficient means to maintain the skills and knowledge base within their enterprises. As the cost for traditional corporate training increases by approximately 10 percent per year, the expense of online training for employees is decreasing by about 50 percent per year. The potential from growth in markets outside the United States has not yet been recognized. Also worth noting is that the demand for an education in the United States greatly exceeds the supply of student visas issued by immigration authorities. Only one in 10 applications for student visas are being issued to potential learners in China who wish to study in the United States.
Foreign students are a significant part of the distance learning mix.
According to Samuel Barbett of the U.S. Department of Education, there were more than 450,000 non-resident aliens studying in U.S. universities in 1996. But many universities are setting up online ventures aimed at Asian students who can no longer afford to come the United States to study.