There are many aspects to online learning that many are not aware of. This means that the idea of just going online and cranking out papers is a stereotype, and very founded. Online learning is a new way of gaining a good and useful education, but is done so with a unique way of allowing people to work on their own time. This is an important key, as many people, even as recently as a decade ago, were not able to complete their degrees because of time constraints. They simply could not attend classes as brick and mortar colleges because they had jobs or families to tend to. The other aspect of this was that professors tended to be unsympathetic to the real and adult lives that adult learners are dealing with. This meant that many people were failing classes.
Today, with the online environment, they are structured around the adult learner, and their needs. Many of the colleges are truly customer service based, and offer a unique approach with students. The school also offer accreditation for their programs, and support tools necessary for success. This is a huge leap forward, and has begun to take over the mainstream college market for those that are just graduating high school. Online learning is the wave of the future, and it is only a matter of time before brick and mortar colleges are in place for a few specific things like testing or practicums. It is obvious that the student attendance rate is in a steady decline, especially in this poor market when attending college can be so expensive. Online learning is usually about six thousand dollars to attend per year, and includes an unlimited amount of credit to be taken during each term. That is a great money saver compared to the $107 per unit fee for community colleges and then the $350 per unit fee for a state school. The irony is that many large private schools offer charter or satellite online schools that are a fraction of the cost of their in class rates.