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dizzying.”
This report presents findings from the second
nationally representative survey of distance
education undertaken by the National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES). This survey was
conducted in winter 1998–99, and collected
information about the 12-month 1997–98
academic year. The first report, Distance
Education in Higher Education Institutions (U.S.
Department of Education 1997) was based on
data from a 1995 NCES Postsecondary Education
Quick Information System (PEQIS) survey of
higher education institutions. The current report
updates and expands upon the findings from the
previous report in several important ways.
Perhaps most significantly, the current survey
expands the universe of institutions from which it
collected data, from higher education institutions
to all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary institutions.
In addition, this report also presents new
information about fields of study and instructional
levels of courses and programs offered through
distance education, as well as information about
how tuition and fees charged for distance
education courses compare to those charged for
on-campus courses. Finally, this report also
provides trend information for higher education
institutions, including changes in the percentage
of higher education institutions offering distance
education courses, enrollments and course
offerings, degree and certificate programs, as well
as technologies used to deliver distance education
courses.
Key Findings
Institutions and Enrollments
Evidence suggests that distance education is
becoming an increasingly visible feature of
postsecondary education in this country. This
report provides descriptive information about all
2-year and 4-year postsecondary education
institutions that offered distance education in
1997–98, including enrollments in distance
education courses at those institutions. Analyses
of institutions and enrollments are presented by
institutional type and size. Information is also
included about enrollments by the level of course
offerings (undergraduate or graduate/firstprofessional).
Results of the 1997–98 PEQIS
survey indicate that:
· About one-third of the nation's 2-year and 4-
year postsecondary education institutions
offered any distance education courses during
the 12-month 1997–98 academic year, and
another one-fifth of the institutions planned to
start offering such courses within the next 3
years. About half of the postsecondary
institutions did not offer and did not plan to
offer distance education courses in the next 3
years (table 2).
· Distance education was more likely to be
conducted by public institutions; 78 percent
of public 4-year institutions and 62 percent of
public 2-year institutions offered distance
education courses, compared with 19 percent
of private 4-year and 5 percent of private 2-
iv
year institutions. Distance education was also
strongly related to institutional size; distance
education courses were more likely to be
offered by medium and large institutions than
by small institutions (table 2).
· There were an estimated 1,661,100
enrollments 1 in all distance education courses,
and 1,363,670 enrollments in college-level,
credit-granting distance education courses,
with most of these at the undergraduate level
(table 5). About half of the institutions that
reported offering distance education courses
in 1997–98 reported 300 or fewer enrollments
in those courses (figure 1).
Course Offerings
Comprehensive information about the courses
available through distance education and
enrollments in those courses has not been widely
available. To address this gap in the knowledge
base, this report provides information about total
courses and college-level, credit-granting courses
offered through distance education by all
postsecondary institutions. Analyses of course
offerings are presented by institutional type,
general field of study, and instructional level of
the course (undergraduate or graduate/firstprofessional).
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