How relevant is Internet-supported learning to the future of higher education? Are we talking about another entry in a long list of technologies that have been applied to learning from the blackboard to the overhead projector? There are at least three reasons to take serious notice of Internet-supported learning. These are capacity, cost, and attainment.

Capacity. With a higher education degree now widely accepted as “the ticket to the middle class” (Newman et al., 2004), U.S. enrollments in postsecondary institutions are expected to grow at about a 1.4% rate per year through 2012 (Gerald & Hussar, 2002). This number by itself is not cause for great alarm. In fact, the rate of growth was higher in the late 1980’s. However, the projected growth varies widely from state to state with declines expected in some states and large increases, exceeding the national average by anywhere from 30% to 200%, in a group of about 20 states (Martinez, 2004).

The states with the highest growth rates will and already are (example: California) struggling to keep up with the demand, while institutions in states with declining enrollment are looking for ways to expand their reach to areas of growth. Internet-supported learning is an important, and some would say crucial, element in addressing both of these challenges. In fact, several participants in this study have used Internet-supported learning to meet these challenges.

Cost. Tuition has increased over six fold in just 25 years from 1978 to 2003, more than double the rate of inflation in that period (Vedder, 2004). More importantly, it is doubtful that this rate of increase can continue. According to calculations by Richard Vedder of the American Enterprise Institute and Ohio University, this trend must be reversed at some point soon as we are beginning to see potential scenarios that have annual tuition costing between one or two times an annual family income (Vedder, 2004). Also, according to Vedder, since 1980 the ratio of tuition to GDP output per student has been rising, indicating that the output our society obtains from a dollar investment in tuition is on the decline.

Internet-supported learning has the potential to reduce costs. An investment in Internet learning technology is a direct investment in the delivery of learning, as opposed to facilities or non-academic programs. Additionally, increase in online programs, courses, or class sessions has a related decrease in the need for physical facilities, thus enabling serving more students at the same physical facility cost.

Attainment. The most frequently mentioned mission driver named by participants in this study was increased access. Clearly Internet-supported learning has increased access for many, from those too far to attend a campus to working adults who have enough time to obtain a degree now that the commute times and unworkable class sessions have been eliminated. However, while we historically have and are now continuing to make great strides in access to higher education in this country, the challenge we are failing to meet is success of students, or attainment, as measured by actual degree achievement. As pointed out by The Futures Project (Newman et al., 2004) we must go beyond access to attainment, especially for disadvantaged students.

In the recent Sloan “Entering” study over 50% of respondents (primarily academic officers) rated online learning outcomes as equivalent to or better than their face-to-face counterparts (Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. 2004). In the study that you are reading, a majority (59%) believed that faculty would say that the courses or programs resulting from e-Learning were clearly of higher quality than the classroom courses or programs upon which they were based. From these two studies we can draw a conclusion that leading practitioners of online learning are committed to quality and believe they are achieving it. However, the work of the Futures Project reminds us that the objective for the future must be to increase quality and take more responsibility for student learning and outcomes than is the current practice.

As pointed out in (Twigg, 2002), until we move beyond trying to reproduce the classroom experience online and begin to tap into the potential to provide a more individualized approach to instruction, it will be difficult to “move beyond no significant difference in outcomes.” In fact, Internet-supported learning holds great potential for achieving significant improvements that support potential gains in attainment. Five strategies implemented by participants in this study that enhanced student success were: