Institutions were asked how many students received degrees or certificates in academic year 1994-95 by taking distance education courses exclusively. An estimated 3,430 students received degrees and 1,970 received certificates by taking distance education courses exclusively⁶ (Table 11). Public 4-year institutions had many more degree and certificate recipients than did public 2-year institutions, and more certificate recipients than did private 4-year institutions. About half (49 percent) of the institutions that offered degrees that students could complete by taking distance education courses exclusively had 10 or fewer degree recipients in academic year 1994- 95 (not shown in tables). The distribution of certificate recipients is not estimated because there are too few cases for a reliable estimate.

Notes:

⁵ To put this number into context, there were approximately 14.3 million students enrolled in higher education institutions in fall 1994 (U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics 1996. Washington, DC: 1996; information from table 174).

⁶ To put these numbers into context, there were approximately 2.2 million degrees awarded at the associate through doctorate level and approximately 72,000 less-than-1-year awards in 1992-93, the most recent year for which data are available (U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics 1996. Washington, DC: 1996; information from tables 240 and 242).

Characteristics of Distance Education Courses and Programs

To date, information has not been available on a national basis about some of the general characteristics of distance education courses and programs that affect the distance education experience for students. This section provides information about the resources available to students enrolled in distance education courses, procedures used to administer tests to students enrolled in for-credit distance education courses, and training opportunities for faculty teaching distance education courses.

Availability of Resources for Students Enrolled in Distance Education Courses

Institutions that offered distance education courses in fall 1995 were asked about the availability of various resources for students enrolled in their distance education courses. Institutions were asked to indicate whether the resource was available for all courses, available for some courses, or not available. Access to instructors in some form was generally available to students. Instructors visiting remote site(s) on occasion was available for some courses at 42 percent of institutions and for all courses at 25 percent of institutions (table 12). Toll-free telephone, E-mail, or other online access to the instructor was available for some courses at 24 percent and for all courses at 58 percent of institutions. Access to a teaching assistant, tutor, or facilitator was somewhat less available. These staff were regularly available at remote site(s) or by telephone, E-mail, or other online access for some or all courses at about half of the institutions (tables 12 and 13). Telephone, E-mail, or other online access to technical support staff was available to students for some or all courses at about two-thirds of the institutions. Online access to wide area networks (e.g., the Internet) was available at about half of the institutions.

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