Best Universities Adapt to Online Degrees Enrollments
The best universities are quick to adapt to the changing landscape of higher education. In the Fall of 2020, 44% or 7 million of all undergraduate students chose to enroll in online degrees. This number is 186% higher compared to 2019 figures (NCES, 2022). This signals a strong preference for the convenience and flexibility that online degrees offer. All over the world, postsecondary education online offerings are becoming a major part of every college and university program.
This shift is evident in university initiatives. Just this year, St. Mary’s University School of Law has become the first fully online J.D. program to be accredited by the American Bar Association (Pelletier et. al., 2022). In Europe, business schools have formed the European Common Online Learning (Ecol) group, which is composed of eight schools from Italy, France, and Switzerland, among others. Meanwhile, Portland State University (PSU) has introduced the “Attend Anywhere” model that intends to understand what a hybrid university might look like and also to reimagine the future of instructional modalities (Pelletier et. al., 2022).
Allison Littlejohn, an academic specialising in learning technology, says the blending of school and home is also likely to complicate the relationship between work and life, prompting students to demand more consideration of mental health and work-life balance from their future employers.