Online college courses are a rapidly expanding feature of higher education, yet little research identifies their effects. Using an instrumental variables approach and data from DeVry University, this study finds that, on average, online course-taking reduces student learning by one-third to one-quarter of a standard deviation compared to…

Enrollment in online courses has outpaced overall university enrollment for the past several years. The growth of online courses does not appear to be slowing. The purpose of this study was to compare course completion and student academic performance between online and traditional courses. Archival data from the host university student records…

This paper considers the influence of e-tuition using an asynchronous written conferencing package, "FirstClass," upon retention and success rates for Masters-level courses in a distance learning programme as compared with similar courses that were supported in a traditional manner using face-to-face tuition. The paper investigates the common…