"Class Differences: Online Education in the United States, 2010" represents the eighth annual report on the state of online learning in U.S. higher education. The survey is designed, administered and analyzed by the Babson Survey Research Group with support from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Data collection is conducted in partnership with the College Board. This year's study, like those for the previous seven years, is aimed at answering some of the fundamental questions about the nature and extent of online education. Based on responses from more than 2,500 colleges and universities, the study addresses: Is online learning strategic? After remaining steady for a number of years, the proportion of chief academic officers saying that online education is critical to their long-term strategy took an upward turn in 2010. Sixty-three percent of all reporting institutions said that online learning was a critical part of their institution's long term strategy, a small increase from fifty-nine percent in 2009. The year-to-year change was greatest among the for-profit institutions, which increased from fifty-one percent agreeing in 2009 to sixty-one percent in 2010. For-profit institutions also were the most likely to have included online learning as a part of their strategic plan. (Contains 9 footnotes.) [For the previous report, "Learning on Demand: Online Education in the United States, 2009," see ED529931.]