Now to find a college. Perhaps you should choose on the basis of reputation. After all, with only the tuition as the major expense the cost of relocation and campus life are no longer issues. How about the buildings. Whether ivy covered or graffiti covered, each college adds its own special culture.
Research is conducted in laboratories and in the field.
Certainly with today's powerful computers statistical analysis is no longer restricted to the college mainframe. And original research studies - certainly most, if not all, current research is published online. Most online distance learning is implemented as a communications portal between the professor and a group of students. The computer is the student's electronic transportation device to the classroom. What's special about this is that it shrinks distances.