The “typical” college student is harder to define than ever before. Educators see this trend and are beginning to recognize the many different reasons students choose to continue their education, and their approaches to learning. The majority of today’s online students enroll with career-related goals in mind.

The Learning House has confirmed this to be the case over the past several years in their annual Online College Students reports. The 2016 report shared that more than 75% of online students have career motivations for continuing their education.

Online Program Formats

The New Media Consortium’s 2016 Horizon Report expects “increasing use of blended learning designs” to strongly impact online learning over the next two years (New Media Consortium, 2016). There are many ways to incorporate both on-campus and online experiences in a program, from adding in-person classroom requirements to offering access to campus-based support services (e.g., libraries, financial aid offices, advisors, tutoring centers). The Learning House recently identified a trend in online students choosing

programs that are close to home - almost 75% enroll in online programs at schools within 100 miles of home (The Learning House, 2016).

When asked to tell us more about their experiences, our student respondents shared several combinations of online and on-campus activities. Of those currently enrolled in a degree or certificate program, approximately half visit campus either by choice or because there is an in-person requirement in their courses