By May of this year, there were more than 56,000. The online classes are a popular option, with Web-linked students totaling 5,000 now, up from 1,500 five years ago. This is driving adults back into the education market. These adults are technology-savvy and they want options that will give them flexibility. They frequently travel, so they can't connect to campus-based programs.
Online classes reduce real estate costs and can prompt higher profit margins.
But the class size can be smaller a course offering needs a threshold of 10 students to open for business instead of the 15 for a normal class setting. Wall Street definitely likes the approach. University officials are now considering opening additional classroom clusters in Northern Virginia, D.C., Richmond and perhaps Virginia's Tidewater area. They talk of having all intended campuses in place before 1999 is over. Reid Miles, a managing director at the venture capital firm Blue Water Capital in McLean, Va., says if the university grows as fast as Nelson envisions, it will fill a vast need in the region.