Florida’s push for online courses benefits all, including STEM students - Ned Lautenbach, Orlando Sentinel

Online education expands access. A new report by the Board of Governors, which oversees Florida’s 12 public universities, shows that 65 percent of undergraduates who took only distance-learning courses during the 2016-2017 academic year were women, a group with a history of underrepresentation in STEM fields. Similarly, the average age for students in distance-learning programs is 28 (compared to 22 for traditional programs), indicating that students are advancing their educations at a time when they’re likely to have family or job responsibilities. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-ed-state-push-for-online-learning-benefits-all-stem-too-20180403-story.html