With the onset of information technology and the Internet, distance learning has profoundly changed education by eliminating barriers to learning. An example of synchronous communication is when students are in classrooms in remote locations but are watching and participating in a classroom activity through a two-way satellite hookup. Technology has enabled National University to provide an alternative method for students seeking a quality education. NU provides adult learners the opportunity for continued lifelong learning via distance education to students with physical disadvantages, time constraints, distance barriers, or multiple personal and professional responsibilities. Instructors at National are more successful due to their commitment to meeting students' needs and an understanding of course requirements.
Students can e-mail questions to instructors and other students and receive immediate answers.
Twenty-three percent offered degrees and seven percent offered certificates completed through distance education. It is estimated that 3,430 students received degrees and an additional 1,870 received certificates between 1994-95. In other words, approximately 2.2 million degrees were awarded at the associate through doctorate level, and approximately 7,200 certificate were awarded between 1992-93. Another survey is due for release in 1999, which will show the increase of students and how many more institutions offer degree programs exclusively through distance education. In early 1996, National University became one of the first institutions in the nation to offer distance education through video teleconferencing.