|
NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS
Statistical Analysis Report December 1999
Distance Education at
Postsecondary Education
Institutions: 1997-98
Laurie Lewis
Kyle Snow
Elizabeth Farris
Westat
Douglas Levin
American Institutes for Research
Bernie Greene
Project Officer
National Center for Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 2000- 013
U.S. Department of Education
Richard W. Riley
Secretary
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
C. Kent McGuire
Assistant Secretary
National Center for Education Statistics
Gary W. Phillips
Acting Commissioner
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing,
and reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfills a congressional
mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report full and complete statistics on the condition of education in
the United States; conduct and publish reports and specialized analyses of the meaning and significance
of such statistics; assist state and local education agencies in improving their statistical systems; and
review and report on education activities in foreign countries.
NCES activities are designed to address high priority education data needs; provide consistent, reliable,
complete, and accurate indicators of education status and trends; and report timely, useful, and high
quality data to the U.S. Department of Education, the Congress, the states, other education policymakers,
practitioners, data users, and the general public.
We strive to make our products available in a variety of formats and in language that is appropriate to a
variety of audiences. You, as our customer, are the best judge of our success in communicating
information effectively. If you have any comments or suggestions about this or any other NCES product
or report, we would like to hear from you. Please direct your comments to:
National Center for Education Statistics
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
U.S. Department of Education
555 New Jersey Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20208-5574
December 1999
The NCES World Wide Web Home Page is:
http://nces.ed.gov
Suggested Citation
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Distance Education at
Postsecondary Education Institutions: 1997-98. NCES 2000-013, by Laurie Lewis, Kyle Snow, Elizabeth
Farris, Douglas Levin. Bernie Greene, project officer. Washington, DC: 1999.
For ordering information on this report, write
U.S. Department of Education
ED Pubs
P.O. Box 1398
Jessup, MD 20794-1398
or by calling toll free 1-877-4ED-Pubs.
Content Contact:
Bernie Greene
(202) 219-1366
iii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Many see the rise in the availability of
technology-supported distance education—that is,
the delivery of instruction over a distance to
individuals located in one or more venues—not
only as a revolutionary opportunity to increase
access to postsecondary education, but also as an
opportunity to hasten the overall pace of reform
in higher education (Ehrmann n.d.). In contrast to
the institutional status quo, what was once an
eclectic assortment of individually accessed,
noncredit educational courses is quickly being
knit into comprehensive degree- and certificategranting
programs (Phipps, Wellman, and
Merisotis 1998). Indeed, if a recent article in The
Chronicle of Higher Education (April 9, 1999,
A27) is any indication, the distance education
industry is thriving: “For an industry that barely
existed three years ago, the level of activity is
|