Accompanying 11 for-profit institutions among the top 20 colleges for exclusive-distance-education enrollment were six private nonprofit institutions and three public universities. Two of the public institutions served primarily in-state students, while eight of the for-profit institutions and two of the private nonprofit institutions enrolled more than 90 percent of their distance-education-only students from out of state.
Return to the Almanac home page, or go to the Profession, Students, Finance, or States section. To purchase a copy of the Almanac in print or as a downloadable interactive PDF, visit the Chronicle Store. Help guide us to give you the data you need by taking our 10-minute online Almanac survey.
| 1. | U. of Phoenix-Arizona | 128,410 | 97.6% | 94.8% |
| 2. | Western Governors U. | 84,289 | 100.0% | 93.1% |
| 3. | Southern New Hampshire U. | 61,495 | 84.0% | 91.0% |
| 4. | Liberty U. | 60,850 | 80.3% | 78.4% |
| 5. | Grand Canyon U. | 58,779 | 77.5% | 79.7% |
| 6. | Walden U. | 52,565 | 100.0% | 90.4% |
| 7. | American Public U. system | 48,623 | 100.0% | 92.5% |
| 8. | U. of Maryland University College | 44,308 | 77.0% | 15.0% |
| 9. | Excelsior College | 41,658 | 100.0% | 83.8% |
| 10. | Ashford U. | 41,343 | 100.0% | 87.5% |
| 11. | Capella U. | 37,569 | 100.0% | 95.8% |
| 12. | Kaplan U. at Davenport (Iowa) | 36,835 | 98.2% | 98.4% |
| 13. | Brigham Young U.-Idaho | 25,820 | 57.6% | 72.2% |
| 14. | Arizona State U.-Skysong | 24,630 | 94.0% | 73.8% |
| 15. | Colorado Technical U. at Colorado Springs | 24,132 | 94.5% | 92.1% |
| 16. | Chamberlain U. College of Nursing at Addison (Ill.) | 22,837 | 89.3% | 91.1% |
| 17. | Columbia Southern U. | 21,442 | 100.0% | 90.7% |
| 18. | DeVry U. of Illinois | 16,461 | 85.1% | 80.6% |
| 19. | Ultimate Medical Academy at Tampa | 16,140 | 98.3% | 88.7% |
| 20. | U. of Texas at Arlington | 15,510 | 34.3% | 24.8% |
Note: Distance education refers to the use of one or more technologies to instruct students who are separated by distance from the instructor, and to support interaction between students and the instructor. The technologies may include the internet, closed-circuit television, and audio conferencing. In this table, “number” refers to those students enrolled exclusively in distance education. The percentage of out-of-state students was calculated by dividing the number of such students into the number of students studying exclusively through distance education, minus the number of students whose location was unknown. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data