Online classes help boost UIS enrollment

Students on the Net up 43% over last spring

By DOUG POKORSKI STAFF WRITER

Online classes are beginning to have a significant effect on enrollment at the University of Illinois at Springfield - including some changes no one at the school had anticipated.

Total enrollment for the spring semester, which just began, is up slightly compared to last spring, the first year-to-year increase in many semesters. Total enrollment this spring is 3,880 students, compared to 3,861 last spring, according to UIS spokeswoman Cheryl Peck.

Online enrollment, however, is up sharply to 809 students, an increase of 43 percent over last spring, Peck said.

"Online enrollment has pushed our total enrollment in a way nothing else has been able to do," she said. "Overall, it's pretty encouraging."

UIS began offering classes online just two years ago, in the fall of 1998, with about seven classes and 30 students. There are currently 57 online courses, including one bachelor's and two master's degree programs.

About one-fourth of UIS faculty teach classes online, Peck said.

"I don't think anyone ever expected such a large growth (in online enrollment) in such a short time," Peck said.

Moreover, she said, students are using online classes in ways that were not anticipated two years ago.

Officials originally expected that students who live within easy commuting distance of the UIS campus would continue to take classes there, while the Internet would allow students who live farther away to take advantage of the online classes.

While that has happened, and the university has online students from as far away as Rockford and Carbondale, Peck said, there have also been other uses of online classes.

For one thing, she said, "We have commuter students who would prefer to be online full time."

In addition, while it was originally expected that students would either be "on-campus" or "online," students are mixing on-campus and online courses to save time and travel and to give themselves greater flexibility in scheduling.

"We see more and more students planning their academic studies both online and in the classroom," she said.

The number of undergraduates mixing on- and off-campus classes has increased tenfold, from 21 to 211, compared to last year, and the number of graduate students mixing programs has gone from eight to 139.

Those off-campus numbers also reflect a small number of students taking UIS classes in Peoria, but the major growth appears to be in the online classes.

The increasing number of online students appears to be a mix of students in degree programs and those taking a class or two without planning to pursue a degree, Peck said.

One other enrollment trend at UIS this year probably reflects the recent downturn in the economy.

When the economy is booming and people can readily find good-paying jobs, they tend to stay in the work force. When jobs are harder to find, people are more likely to seek more education to increase their employment options.

The number of brand-new students on campus this spring is 651 this year, compared to 535 last year, suggesting that people are once again turning from the workplace to schooling.

Doug Pokorski can be reached at 788-1539 or doug.pokorski@sj-r.com.

Doug Pokorski © Copyright 2001, The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Illinois. Reprinted with Permission.