Thursday, July 17, 2014

How to Overcome Challenges to Complete an Online Degree - Dawn Reiss, US News

Completion rates for online students are tough to track, since the U.S. Department of Education only began looking at the issue recently, but many instructors and school leaders say the numbers are low. A 2013 study by Babson Survey Research Group found that that 41 percent of chief academic officers reported "that retaining students was a greater problem for online courses than for face-to-face courses." That’s because many students who start their online degree drop out in the first two or three weeks, says Betty Vandenbosch, provost for Kaplan University, which allows its students to come to school for the first three weeks for free. "Online education is fabulous, but it’s not for everybody," Vandenbosch says. "Some people don’t realize how much effort it takes. Many of the people who don’t finish barely start." http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2014/07/04/how-to-overcome-challenges-to-complete-an-online-degree