Fall-Enrollment Trends in Distance Education: a Snapshot

How did distance education change at colleges from 2019 to 2021? The U.S. Department of Education defines distance ed as “education that uses one or more technologies to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor.” Those technoloiges support “regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor synchronously or asynchronously.”

This statistical snapshot, based on Education Department enrollment data for the fall of each year in this sample, provides a sector-by-sector look at overall distance-ed enrollment for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as the enrollment in different types of distance education.

4-Year Public Institutions

2-Year Public Institutions

4-Year Private Nonprofit Institutions

2-Year Private Nonprofit Institutions

4-Year Private For-Profit Institutions

2-Year Private For-Profit Institutions

Methodology: This analysis looked at four- and two-year institutions with Carnegie Classifications of doctoral, master’s, baccalaureate, or associate within the United States. All institutions are degree-granting. Institutions are defined as degree-granting if they are eligible to participate in Title IV federal financial-aid programs. Because the Education Department updates its Carnegie Classifications every three years, data for 2021 uses the 2021 Carnegie Classifications of the colleges. The data for 2019 and 2020 uses the 2018 classifications.

The data is based on students who were entirely enrolled in distance-education classes. In-state online enrollment describes students who are enrolled only in online classes located in the same state or jurisdiction as the institution. Out-of-state online enrollment describes those who live out of the state or jurisdiction of the institution. Out-of-U. S. online enrollment refers to those who live outside of the country. In-person describes those who attend classes in person.