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Accredited Online Colleges

Find a trustworthy and flexible online college learning option that works best for you using U.S. News rankings, data and expert advice.

Online college is no longer just an option for many students – it has become the norm. Experts say colleges are poised to offer even more online degree programs and develop new ones as well. Advancements in technology, course design and high-speed internet availability are moving online learning forward. One reason students enroll in online degree programs is for the flexibility to study from anywhere. Students with family responsibilities or full-time jobs may also be able to work around their own schedules. Online students need to have good time management skills and be able to overcome distractions in their environment. Though online formats still present students with unique challenges, accredited institutions usually offer tailored support for students to adjust to online courses and plan their academic futures however they learn.

Online College Degree Programs

Earning a bachelor's degree – in person or online – can open doors to employment opportunities. According to the National Center for Education Statistics , the employment rate among 25- to 34-year-olds in the U.S. with a bachelor's degree or higher was at 87% in 2022. Compare that with the 73% employment rate for those with only a high school diploma. In fall 2020, about 11.8 million of all undergraduate students were enrolled in at least one distance education courses at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, and 7 million were enrolled exclusively in online classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics . Students in online programs usually earn the same degree as on-campus students. The curriculum for an online bachelor’s degree typically matches the on-campus curriculum at the same school, and the diploma usually doesn’t state whether that specific degree was earned online or in person. This can help ease fears that employers won’t accept applicants with online undergraduate degrees. Many online bachelor’s programs require students to complete general education requirements in the arts, humanities and sciences if they haven’t already done so at another college or university. Prospective students will likely need to decide between a liberal arts major and one that is more career-focused, with the latter being the route many take to change career fields or advance professionally. Still, experts say it may make sense for some online students to major in a liberal arts discipline if it’s a subject they are truly passionate about. Academic advisers can offer guidance on which route is best for you.

Pros and Cons of Online Degrees

Students can take classes virtually, allowing them to learn anywhere.

Students can pursue the best program for their field of study, even if the school is far from home.

Students can plan around busy schedules to complete their coursework.

Students need greater self-motivation, time management skills and discipline to complete coursework.

There's no face-to-face interaction with an instructor.

Networking with classmates may be difficult.

An online degree can be a great choice for students who want to continue their education and have either an associate degree or no postsecondary education. A variety of online bachelor’s programs exist, so prospective students should explore all options before enrolling. Those who want to earn their online degree as quickly as possible may wish to pursue a competency-based program or one with an accelerated schedule. The majority of incoming online undergraduates have previously earned some college credits. Individuals in this group should check early in the process whether the prospective online program will accept those credits. Students with an undergraduate degree also can earn a master’s degree completely online. This path is a great choice for working professionals who want to advance in their career or change fields completely. You can find out more through U.S. News’ best online master’s degrees rankings and resources.

What Current Online College Students Say

Olga Nikuradze , senior at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, class of 2023, Bachelor of Science in data science.

Diana Mansfield , senior at Unity Environmental University, class of 2024, Bachelor of Science in marine biology and sustainable aquaculture.

Jennifer Rose , senior at Indiana University, class of 2026, Bachelor of Science in informatics.

How to Choose the Best Online College for You

The best online college is the one that fits your needs. As you’re evaluating programs, consider how each school’s research, resources and reputation line up with your career interests and goals. An online program’s accreditation, tuition and flexibility are other factors that come into play. A good place to start your research is the U.S. News rankings of accredited online bachelor's programs . Once you narrow down what colleges you’re interested in, make sure the programs are in your ideal format – whether that’s fully online or a hybrid model. Review admission requirements and application fees and compare the availability of financial aid. Look into the school’s costs beyond tuition, including book, course material and online delivery fees, and research its student services and faculty.

Check the Accreditation Status of the School or Program

When choosing an online degree program, prospective students should ensure the school is accredited by an organization recognized by either the U.S. Department of Education or the nonprofit Council for Higher Education Accreditation. These organizations monitor programs and schools and renew their accreditation every few years. The Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs contains information from recognized accrediting agencies and state approval agencies that reported to the U.S. Department of Education. Information regarding whether an online degree program is accredited is often available on a school’s website. Accreditation is a process that an outside authority conducts to ensure a school or degree program – either on campus, online or a combination of both – meets certain standards of quality and rigor. Accreditation is a voluntary process, though it has several benefits and essentially validates a program to employers and other institutions. There are a few types of accreditation , but the main two are regional and national. Designated regional agencies determine whether a school is regionally accredited. This is a widely recognized type of accreditation. Credits transfer easily between regionally accredited schools. National accreditation is usually less rigorous and awarded to schools of a similar type, like vocational or technical institutions. For-profit online programs are more likely to have national accreditation. Credits from a nationally accredited college are not transferable to a regionally accredited college. Students can speak with their academic adviser to learn more about what types of accreditation are expected from employers in a given career field. Employers may verify that a job candidate’s degree comes from an accredited program, especially if the school name is unfamiliar to them. Should a student decide to change programs, a transfer-friendly school is more likely to accept course credits that come from an accredited institution.

Choose a College Major

Choosing an undergraduate major can seem daunting. As you research options, think about what subjects you enjoy and what majors might prepare you for careers you’d want to pursue. Make sure you understand how salary may vary by field over the course of a career. The right major can set you up for success in college and beyond. The six most common bachelor’s degrees earned in 2020-21, according to the National Center for Education Statistics , were business, health professions and related programs, social sciences and history, biological and biomedical sciences, psychology, and engineering. Students who receive bachelor’s degrees in certain engineering fields have some of the highest starting salaries. According to U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data on students who received federal financial aid, computer engineering, petroleum engineering and industrial engineering majors make a median starting salary of more than $65,000 per year. Students shouldn’t pick an area of study solely because it is popular or high earning. The same goes for online graduate students – they should weigh the professional benefits of an advanced degree. Those with job experience should consider their professional goals when deciding what to study.

Determine Which Online Learning Option Works for You

The structure of online degree programs varies. That’s why prospective students must research a program thoroughly to ensure it meets their needs. In general, however, online courses require students to regularly log in to a learning management system, or LMS. This is a virtual portal that serves as a classroom, where students can access relevant course materials and monitor their progress on lessons. Different formats require different levels of communication with fellow students. Online students may interact with each other through a variety of channels, including discussion forums, social media, videoconferencing, by phone and through email. Students should not expect an online class to be easier than an on-campus one just because of the format. Programs may require students to attend what are often referred to as synchronous class sessions. These sessions are held in real time through videoconferencing, which can help students interact and build relationships with their classmates and the instructor. This type of program’s activities adhere to a preset schedule of classes, lectures, conversations and assignments. Most online courses have an asynchronous, or self-paced, component. Students complete readings, listen to lectures and participate in discussions with classmates whenever they wish but must follow weekly deadlines. Open-schedule courses give students the freedom to begin courses whenever they want and complete assignments based on their start date. Students don’t adhere to regular semester dates. In this format, communication with other students can be sparse. Students working full time might find the convenience and flexibility of open-schedule courses the most desirable. Then there’s fixed-time courses where students attend all classes virtually, with no in-person meetings required, but must log on to attend class at specific times. This format is the best for those who want the structure of a set schedule but need the class to be entirely online. Lastly, hybrid online courses allow students to do coursework remotely but require a few in-person meetings.

Top Online Colleges

U.S. News evaluated several factors to rank the best online bachelor's degree programs, including graduation rates, faculty credentials and support services available remotely.

Find an Online College

Use the filters below to search ranked online degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

How to Get Financial Aid for Online College

1. Submit the FAFSA. To receive financial aid, the first and most important step is filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. This is available online on Oct. 1 each year. To receive the most financial aid possible, prospective students should check school and state grant deadlines and apply early. The FAFSA requires applicants to fill in basic information, such as their contact information and Social Security number, as well as provide their latest federal income tax returns and bank statements. Undergraduate students who are younger than 24 years old – and not married, veterans or active military members – will need to file as a dependent and provide their parents’ financial information. Nearly all students who apply for financial aid qualify for some form of it. 2. Fill out other financial aid forms and apply for scholarships. Many colleges offer their own source of financial aid in the form of grants, scholarships and loans. You may need to fill out additional forms to receive this aid. This information – including deadlines – is generally available on a school’s website. Applicants can also search online for scholarships available at specific schools or from organizations tied to their discipline. Online learners may be eligible for the same scholarships available to on-campus students, and there may even be additional scholarships for online or adult learners. 3. Review and correct the FAFSA Student Aid Report. A few days after submitting the FAFSA online, applicants will receive a Student Aid Report from the Federal Student Aid office. This report restates answers that applicants provided as well as other relevant information, and it’s an opportunity for applicants to correct any errors on the FAFSA, including adding or removing colleges. 4. Compare awards. Each school will calculate applicants’ financial need, which determines their financial aid eligibility. Students will receive an award letter stating what financial aid they are being offered. They can compare their award packages based on the aid they are eligible to receive, the school’s tuition and other costs. 5. Reapply for financial aid each year. To continue receiving financial aid each year, applicants need to fill out the FAFSA annually for as long as they plan to be a student. A degree can be a major investment, and financial aid can help ease the burden of costly tuition. Much like financial aid for on-campus students, aid for online students is available in the form of grants, scholarships, loans and even federal work-study jobs. That said, some online degree programs may not offer work-study opportunities, as many online students are already working full time. The online degree financial aid process is often identical to that of students earning a degree in person. Online students also need to meet similar – if not the same – requirements to be eligible for financial aid at a given school. Additionally, whether a student is full- or part-time can affect that person’s ability to qualify for financial aid. To receive certain amounts or types of aid, many online programs require students to meet specific credit-hour requirements. Applying for financial aid is a complex process. In a 2022 survey of online students by Wiley University Services, 36% of online students indicated that determining how to pay for school was the most difficult part of the application process, while 27% said completing financial aid forms was the hardest. Luckily, accredited online colleges often have financial aid advisers to answer questions and help applicants through the process. To learn more, read U.S. News’ paying for college coverage . There you’ll find expert advice and resources to help you through the process.

How to Apply to Online College

The admissions process for online college is usually similar to that of on-campus programs. Step 1: Fill out the Common App. To start, you’ll need to fill out the application. At the bachelor’s level, the Common Application is accepted by more than 900 schools, including some colleges outside the U.S. It’s likely that an online degree-seeking student will also need to complete this application. Because master’s degree applications are usually tied to a specific program in a school, what application students need to complete may vary. Step 2: Write essays. Applicants at both levels will likely have to submit an essay of some kind. Because many online students already have some work experience, experts recommend that they emphasize their professional skills as part of their application and explain how their experience has prepared them for online college. Step 3: Collect letters of recommendation. Undergraduate and graduate online programs often require letters of recommendation . These may come not only from teachers and school counselors but also current or previous employers who can speak to a student’s work ethic. At the graduate level, a recommendation letter will more likely come from an employer. Step 4: Submit test scores. Applicants may need to submit standardized test scores as part of their application. Many undergraduate online students already have some previously earned college credits and therefore may be able to forgo submitting an SAT or ACT entrance exam score if enough of their credits transfer. At the graduate level, whether the GMAT or GRE graduate school entry exam is required depends on the school and area of study. Some may not require any test scores. This information is typically available on a program’s website. Consult an admissions officer at schools of interest to determine the exact requirements. Step 5: Submit transcripts. Students also may need to submit school transcripts and, depending on the program’s requirements, their prior work experience and previously earned credit hours. Note that just because a program is offered online doesn’t guarantee that getting admitted will be easier. Step 6: Keep track of deadlines. Make sure you follow directions carefully and keep track of deadlines for the school’s admissions application, financial aid and test score submission. Prospective students can find deadline information on each school’s website. Because online program academic calendars may be structured differently from on-campus offerings, deadlines may differ for these applicants.

How to Avoid Online College Scams

Beware of diploma mills, which award illegitimate degrees or certificates to students on the internet. Among the most important steps a prospective student can take is to ensure an online degree program is accredited by an organization recognized by either the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. It’s also essential to look for red flags on a program’s website. Anything that seems too good to be true – earning a degree in a very short time period, for instance, or at an extremely low cost – is a warning sign. The opposite is also true: If a program seems abnormally expensive, conduct further research. Other red flags include a program not listing a campus or business address online, the website having a lot of grammatical or spelling errors or lacking a “.edu” URL, and the school failing to post information about student support services.

For-Profit Online Colleges

When exploring programs, a prospective student may encounter for-profit and nonprofit schools. Students may perceive for-profit online colleges as a more financially risky option, but experts recommend taking what they hear in the media and through word-of-mouth with a grain of salt. For-profit online schools became more prevalent in the late 1990s. At the time, these schools accepted most applicants, including those who weren’t prepared for college. This contributed to low graduation rates and higher debt, as well as a negative reputation toward for-profit schools. That’s changed in recent years, however, as these schools began placing a greater emphasis on student support services and started requiring some students to take entrance exams to gauge their college readiness. Experts say for-profit and nonprofit schools are becoming increasingly similar, but a few primary differences remain. For one, experts say, admissions are typically less selective at for-profit schools. These online colleges are more likely than nonprofits to have rolling admissions, along with academic calendars that don’t operate around the traditional semester schedule. For-profit institutions tend to have national rather than regional accreditation. Experts recommend looking beyond the nonprofit and for-profit classification when choosing an online degree program. Instead, they say, focus on accreditation, tuition, faculty and support services. Prospective students can also look at reviews of different for-profit programs to get a sense of other students' experiences.

For-Profit Schools

• Historically had a negative reputation due to lower graduation rates and high student debt.
• More likely to have national versus regional accreditation, which is preferred by employers.
• Less competitive in the application process than nonprofit schools.

Non-Profit Schools

• Have historically prioritized student support.
• Are more likely to be regionally accredited compared with nonprofit programs.
• Require students to demonstrate readiness through a more competitive application process.

Online Colleges Near Me

While online education offers students the opportunity to study from anywhere in the world, many students still choose a program with a campus close to home. Cost is a big factor in staying local. Online programs at public universities and colleges often charge different tuition rates for in-state and out-of-state students. For example, the University of Florida charges in-state residents $112 per credit hour for enrollment of its online programs, while residents of other states pay $500 per credit hour. That’s a significant savings for Florida residents. Additionally, this in-state tuition is much lower than what Florida residents might pay to attend an online public school based in another state like Ohio or Texas. Sticking with a public school in your state can save you tens of thousands of dollars over the course of your degree. You might also choose a nearby online college so you can easily visit the campus to meet with professors or advisers. Visiting the school can help you better connect with the school community and join on-campus student clubs or attend events. Some students enroll in a local online degree program because they are already familiar with its culture and traditions, or they have family or friends with ties to the institution. The school may also be more recognizable to local employers. Certain online degrees have in-person residency or orientation requirements where students have to visit campus a few times each term or throughout the course of the program. In this case, a local program makes sense.

Online Colleges by State Near Me

• Connecticut
• District of Columbia
• Massachusetts
• Mississippi
• New Hampshire
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• West Virginia

Frequently Asked Questions About Online College

How much does an online bachelor's cost.

The cost of an online bachelor’s degree varies based on what school you choose, whether it’s a private school or a public school, and by your state of residence, among many other factors. An online bachelor’s degree cost can differ from that of an in-person bachelor’s when accounting for fees and how tuition is calculated. While on-campus programs may charge fees for housing, transportation, recreational activities and meals, online programs tend to lack these costs. That said, online programs may charge a distance education or technology fee . Online programs may charge tuition by the credit hour instead of by the semester, which may save online students some money. Most schools post information online about tuition and required fees for online programs, just as they do for campus-based bachelor’s programs. You can also request info from the bursar’s office, which is responsible for handling college tuition payments. There are also several ways students can reduce the cost of an online degree. For instance, they can transfer previously earned college credits or enroll in an accelerated program. If they’re in a competency-based program, students demonstrate mastery of specific skills to progress faster through what they already know, spending more time on the new information and paying a set price per billing period. Employer tuition reimbursement – where an employer pays for some or all tuition – and scholarships for online students can also help reduce the price of getting a degree. Prospective students can contact a financial aid adviser to ensure they are on track with paying each term. Generally, online programs accept payments online by credit card, debit card or electronic check; by mail via a check or money order; or by wire transfer. Most online degree programs also permit students to pay tuition for a given term in several sums rather than all at once.

How Long Does an Online Bachelor's Take?

An online bachelor’s degree can take the same amount of time as an in-person bachelor’s, which is four years, since the coursework is the same. Most bachelor’s degrees require around 120 credits, though the number varies by program and degree type. But an online degree can be completed in less time depending on whether you choose a full- or part-time program, for example. Full-time students can take more classes per term, but a part-time program may be easier to manage on top of other obligations. Bear in mind that most online undergraduates do not start their bachelor’s degree from scratch. Many have previously earned college credits that can be applied toward their new degree, which can save them time and money. Students generally need to submit transcripts from their previous college so that the new school can evaluate which credits will transfer. Academic term length is another important factor. While some programs have a traditional monthslong semester system for online courses, others have an accelerated time frame.

How to Talk to Prospective Employers About Your Online Degree?

You can talk about your online degree openly with a potential employer – it’s a good opportunity to showcase the rigor of the program you attended, your time-management and collaboration skills, and your work ethic. In the interview process, let them know how the skills you learned from the degree apply to the role you want. Several years ago, employers were more hesitant to accept online degrees as legitimate, with concerns that online students didn’t gain the same vital skills as they would in a traditional campus environment. But in recent years, that perception has changed dramatically, as even the top-tier schools have embraced online education and launched high-quality degree programs. And now, experts say it usually isn’t necessary to indicate on a resume that a degree was earned online, as the school’s reputation and accreditation will be significantly more important. While some employers may still be hesitant about online degrees, many have come to recognize the value of having their employees further their education while working, in part because students can apply what they learn directly to their careers. In fact, roughly one-third of online college students have access to tuition reimbursement benefits from their employer, according to the Wiley University Services survey.

What Are Some High Paying Online Degrees?

An online degree can help prepare you for a range of lucrative careers. On the list of U.S. News’ 25 Best Paying Jobs , petroleum engineers , who design equipment that extracts oil from reservoirs, are at No. 17 with an average salary of $142,800 in 2022, according to the BLS . This career path requires a bachelor’s degree in engineering, which is available online. In front of petroleum engineers on the list are information technology managers at No. 12, with an average salary of $173,670 in 2022. Online degrees in the IT field are prevalent at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Business and management degrees, also offered online, can help an employee climb the ladder at a company and earn a higher salary. In May 2022, the average wage for chief executives was $246,440, according to the BLS , and the average annual salary for general and operations managers was $122,860. Also on U.S. News' Best Paying Jobs list, marketing manager ranks No. 15, with an average salary of $158,280 in 2022; financial manager is at No. 14, with an average annual salary of $166,050; and sales manager ranks at No. 19, with an average salary of $150,530.

What Online Degrees Are In Demand?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the jobs projected to have the fastest growth from 2020 to 2030 that require a bachelor’s degree include agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes, at 46% growth; and film and video editors and camera operators, at 33% growth. Suitable degrees for these jobs include a bachelor's degree in a field related to business and management or film and broadcasting, respectively. In addition, some of the projected fastest-growing occupations for 2020 to 2030 were in health care and related industries. That’s good news for online students, as programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels are prevalent in this discipline. This increasing demand is due, in part, to an aging population and a rise in individuals living with chronic illnesses. Health care jobs in high demand include nurse practitioners and occupational therapy assistants. Online degrees exist that can prepare students for these roles. According to the statistics bureau, computer and mathematical occupations – for which an online degree in engineering or information technology may be relevant – account for some of the fastest-growing occupations. Demand for statisticians, for example, is expected to rise 35% between 2020 and 2030. Concerns over online security are also leading to a greater demand for employees with cybersecurity experience and knowledge. For positions such as information security analysts, employment is expected to grow by 33% through 2030.

Methodology

U.S. News has been publishing school rankings in the education sector since 1983 and has done so specifically for online degree programs since 2013. At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, U.S. News calculates rankings based on a variety of factors, which hold different weights depending on the ranking category. A program’s score for each factor, or ranking indicator, is calculated using data that online programs report to U.S. News in an annual survey. The rankings methodologies for online programs are separate from those for U.S. News’ Best Colleges and Best Graduate Schools rankings. Ranking methodologies are typically updated on an annual basis. In developing the Best Online Bachelor’s Programs rankings, U.S. News assessed online colleges based on four general categories. Engagement constitutes 35% of each school’s rank, referring to the extent to which a degree program enables students to effectively interact with instructors and classmates as they would in an on-campus environment. Services and technologies made up 25% of each school’s rank, focusing on how programs incorporate diverse technologies to allow students more flexibility to complete their coursework at a distance. This category also takes into account the quality of student support services, career guidance and financial aid resources. Accounting for 20% of each school’s rank was faculty credentials and training, measuring the degree to which online instructors’ credentials mirror those of on-campus faculty. This category also measures the effectiveness of the resources used to train instructors to teach distance learners. Finally, expert opinions from surveys of high-ranking academic officials make up another 20% of each school’s rank. These insights help account for factors affecting program quality that hard data can’t capture. U.S. News calculates rankings for online graduate programs using similar methodologies, with an additional category taken into consideration. Student excellence is also considered – a category that measures the extent to which students who enter an online program have proven aptitudes, ambitions and accomplishments that enable them to handle the rigors of online learning.

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Health Care Strategy

Learn from HBS Professor Leemore Dafny how to align the principles of business strategy with the unique challenges and structures of health care organizations to capture value, define your mission, and lead your organization to success.

We the People: Civic Engagement in a Constitutional Democracy

Gain a foundational knowledge of American constitutional democracy and craft your own civic voice and identity.

Fat Chance: Probability from the Ground Up

Through highly visual lessons and guided practice, this course explores the quantitative reasoning behind probability and the cumulative nature of mathematics by tracing probability and statistics back to a foundation in the principles of counting.

Shakespeare's Life and Work

Moving between the world in which Shakespeare lived and the present day, this course will introduce different kinds of literary analysis that you can use when reading Shakespeare.

Backyard Meteorology: The Science of Weather

This course will explore the science behind weather systems by teaching the observational skills needed to make a forecast without using instruments or computer models.

MicroBachelors® Program in University Chemistry

Taught by Harvard University Professor James Anderson, learners in this MicroBachelors program are given a robust understanding of chemistry, atomic structure, the principles of energy, thermodynamics, and electrochemistry.

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Online Learning

at Harvard Extension School

Deep learning springs from human connection. That’s why we work so hard to bring people together. Our approach to online learning fosters interaction without sacrificing flexibility. 

In our online courses, you engage with your instructor, participate in peer discussions, and receive one-on-one support from teaching staff—all from your home or office. 

Our online courses are collaborative and experiential

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The Online Course Experience

Members of our Teaching and Learning team, along with instructor Sergio Imparato, discuss the HES philosophy of “human-centered learning done online” — and how we foster interaction without sacrificing flexibility.

HELIX: Harvard Extension Live Interactive eXperience

To support active learning, we created a platform called the Helix classrooms and web conferences . The technology brings together students from around the globe to join an instructor in a live classroom. 

Helix classrooms and web conferences are “hyflex” — a combination of hybrid and flexible formats.

• Students may join professors live in the classroom
• Live online students join the class through Zoom displayed on large monitors and seamlessly interact with students in the classroom
• On-demand students watch professional recordings of the class on their own schedule and interact through online discussion tools
• Students participate in thoughtful discussion with their peers and engage with their instructor in real time

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To find online courses that work for you, use the Format filter in Advanced Search in our Course Search and Registration platform.

Benefits of Online Learning

Online education is fundamentally changing the paradigm of higher education. At Harvard Extension School, we think about online learning a little differently:

• People are at the core of every interaction—we’re connecting people for a shared learning experience
• Our courses respect the full lives and varied preferences of adult, part-time learners
• You receive personal, individualized feedback on your work
• You will be part of a strong community of learners
• Iterative course design keeps courses fresh and relevant for students and instructors
• Everyone has the opportunity to earn credit in rigorous, Harvard-quality courses

Education is about being vulnerable. It’s about being unsettled, unnerved, unhoused – being open to that which you are not used to. To have to de-familiarize yourself to ways of being in the world – Harvard Extension is magnificent in that regard. Cornel West

Distance Education Trailblazers for Over 110 Years

Harvard Extension School believes learners should be at the helm of their own education, while instructors act as mediators who introduce ideas, ask questions, and encourage students to explore new ways of thinking on their own. Online courses present a rich opportunity for this kind of teaching and learning. 

As an early adopter and national leader in distance education, we are perfectly positioned to offer an outstanding, world-class academic experience online, with no compromise on quality.  

Harvard Division of Continuing Education

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.

Distance Learning: The Ultimate Guide to Online Learning

“Earn a college degree in your pajamas!” “Get your bachelor’s without leaving the house!” “Study wherever and however you want!”

Higher ed has been marketing online courses and degree programs like this for years now. Online programs are more flexible than the traditional residential university experience. But catchphrases like these cause students to think online study is easy and convenient, too. While the flexibility is real, know that college isn’t supposed to be easy, and it’s rarely convenient.

It’s important to begin the process of choosing a program with your eyes wide open. Don’t believe the marketing spin that this is going to be a cakewalk. Earning a degree is going to take serious effort and long-term commitment.

It’s also important to understand that not all programs are created equal. In fact, no two programs are exactly the same. There are wide variances in quality, format, cost, success rates, and more.

What is Distance Learning?

Distance learning is an educational process where students receive instruction through online classes, video recordings, video conferencing, or any other audio/visual technology medium. It enables people to receive education without having to be physically present in a classroom.

Properly designed distance learning programs can be a very convenient and effective way to acquire more education. This may seem difficult without students and teachers interacting in a classroom, but people enrolled in distance learning programs can learn just as much away from a classroom as in one.

Distance learning and education are interchangeable terms. Distance learning is not a recent phenomenon. The origins of distance learning can be traced back to the advent of the modern postal system and the mass production of printed publications, which made it possible to spread information rapidly throughout the world.

Why Distance Learning?

Distance learning has made education more accessible to larger groups of people. It is a convenient way to obtain work experience while completing college or other vocational training. Many organizations, such as the military, large corporations, and government agencies rely on distance education to train service members and employees. Education has also changed as communication technology has revolutionized society.

In most cases, education or specialized training is a requirement for most high paid jobs. The availability of the Internet has increased the number of online courses. These courses are offered at online colleges, such as Argosy University, University of Phoenix, Capella University, and Kaplan University.

Who Uses Distance Learning?

More students today are taking advantage of distance learning programs. Working professionals, high school students, and even traditional college students enroll in distance learning classes. Companies and other organizations frequently utilize distance learning programs to train employees. The following are some of the reasons people enroll in distance learning programs:

• Students living in rural areas or those unable to attend traditional classes utilize distance learning
• Students from all over the world can enroll in online courses offered at specific colleges
• Companies utilize distance learning programs to train employees, especially those working in distance regions

Distance learning is very flexible.

Although distance learning can fit into anyone’s schedule, students must take the initiative to study and complete their course work. Distance learning programs are not easy or automatic, so lazy students will probably not successfully complete courses they enroll in. However, even students that are busy or have numerous responsibilities should find the time to study because of the flexibility of these programs.

What technology is used for online distance learning?

Many different types of technology are utilized to enhance online learning. Special computer programs, high speed Internet, and webcam broadcasting technology are just a few of the modern technologies utilized in distance learning. As a result, learning opportunities that never existed for people living in distance or rural areas can obtain a college education or specialized job training. It’s not uncommon for a student living in a rural region of South Dakota to complete a course offered by a college in California.

Students often interact with teachers using video conferencing, satellite, and Internet technology. They can also communicate with other students enrolled in the same course using modern telecommunications technology.

Since students can complete courses wherever the Internet is accessible, many often take time during a work break or while staying in a hotel during a business trip to complete their school work. The flexibility of distance learning is one of the main appeals of these programs.

What is the experience like for online distance learners?

Since distance learning is slowly becoming a popular way to complete college or job training, many people still have reservations about it. The details provided below will give those considering distance learning an idea of what it’s like:

• Students usually interact with classmates and teachers in chat rooms and other instant messaging services. This makes it possible to ask questions and share comments without sitting in a classroom. Teacher lectures are frequently broadcast online, and many students and teachers stay in touch via conference calling technology.
• Group work is completed in chat rooms and special rooms on websites. Students also use e-mail, instant messaging, and web broadcasting technology to discuss project ideas with classmates.
• Course assignments completed by students are completed on a website or submitted as email attachments. Students are usually not permitted to submit work completed on websites after due dates.
• Most reference materials, such as documents and books, are accessible online for students. As a result, students usually do not have to visit libraries to complete traditional research. Many of the books students need are scanned and placed online.
• Questions for instructors can be asked over the phone, through an e-mail, or in a chat room. Instant messaging technology is becoming a very popular way for students and teachers to interact.

Working professionals, stay at home moms, and other people unable to attend college on a campus are utilizing distance learning programs to acquire more education or job training.

Choosing a Distance Learning School

Distance learning has existed for centuries through traditional mail and other creative means, but online education is still a relatively new field. Even though the technology is different, the educational mission and academic standards are the same as in traditional education: providing a quality education. Many online schools do exactly that, while others are merely degree mills or outright frauds. And of course, there’s plenty of variety in the middle.

As you search for online schools, it’s important to know what you’re looking for, and what to look out for. Below are some parameters to help you choose the best online school for you.

Accreditation

Accreditation is the first and most important aspect of any school. Make sure a proper association-preferably a regional association-has accredited the school you’re investigating. This will ensure that it is meeting academic requirements and that other institutions will accept the credits you earn. Attending a school that isn’t properly accredited will not only cause you headaches in college, but with future employers as well.

You also want to check that the accrediting agency is legit. Some of them don’t review schools very thoroughly and some will approve almost anyone for a fee. Your best bet is to verify that the accrediting association is endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education.

Quality of Faculty

By its nature, distance education is more independent than attending a physical classroom with other students, but having good teachers is still vital. Go online and research the faculty of any school you’re looking at. How much education and experience do the teachers have?

Just because a school delivers classes online doesn’t mean the teachers should be any less qualified. Most community college teachers have at least a Masters degree in their field. University professors typically have PhD’s. Any good online school should have comparable faculty.

Degree Programs

As with any school, you need to research the academic programs at an online school and make sure they line up with your goals for higher education. These days, there are many options to choose from in distance education, so shop around and compare specific programs at different schools.

Does this school offer Associates degrees or professional certification? If so, are they recognized by other institutions of higher education? This is vital, especially if you plan on continuing on to a four-year university.

Look at the specific courses that are required for a degree. Do they look interesting, challenging, or make sense with the field of study? Are these classes that you would be attracted to? How do they compare to the course requirements at other online schools?

Understand the Requirements and Schedule

It is also wise to understand the academic requirements and the class schedule before you commit to an online program. In distance education, these factors can vary widely from program to program. Some courses allow you to work at your own pace while others have deadlines, a schedule of live virtual classes, or in-person testing administered by the instructor or a proctor.

Ask yourself a few questions about you as a student. Are you good at self-motivation and staying on task, or do you need structure and/or deadlines? Are you an auditory learner, meaning you can remember details better if you hear them, or a visual learner who can easily read and absorb information? Some online courses are filled with live or recorded video lectures, podcasts and multimedia lessons, while others rely mainly on written text.

Some online programs are hybrid and require some physical attendance, either for lectures or exams. Understand the schedule so you can be certain you can meet these requirements. Also make sure the school is not too far away from where you live.

How much is tuition and are there any hidden fees or extra costs? Distance education is a dynamic and competitive market, and cost and quality don’t always match up. If you’ve begun your search with one school in particular, expand it by looking at other schools with comparable tuition. Compare the quality and variety of degrees, experience of the teachers and feedback from former and current students.

Online college should typically cost a little less than attending a traditional college or university. If you’re looking at a particular online school, do a cost comparison with other colleges in your area.

Student Enrollment, Class Size and Office Hours

How many students does this school enroll? In general, more is better. If an established school isn’t attracting that many students, it’s probably not a good sign. The same goes for how long the school has been in business. The longer, the better. You still want to investigate the quality of their programs and faculty, but experience is usually a good sign.

Look beyond the enrollment numbers. What is the graduation rate? You want to attend a school that has a good record of students’ academic success. What is the student/teacher ratio and average class size? The class is online, but to succeed you will still need some individual attention from the instructor.

That should extend beyond the classroom. It’s often overlooked in online education, but students still require extra interaction with instructors, as well as access to tutoring and mentorship opportunities . Many long-distance teachers will keep online “office hours,” allowing students the same access to instructors as in traditional classes.

If possible, talk to some current or former students to get an idea of the availability of these important aspects of school.

Hardware, Software and Textbooks

Most online schools have basic requirements when it comes to computers. You won’t need a supercomputer, just something that is relatively up-to-date and able to handle word processing and typical online activity. In the case of some specialized courses, you’ll need expensive hardware, but not for most classes.

Software will usually be provided free of charge. In some cases you will need to buy software for the class, which can vary widely in price. The same goes for textbooks. Make sure you know the cost estimate for software and textbooks. They can add up fast.

Remember, distance education has a different delivery method than traditional education, but the goal remains the same. So do the academic standards. Use the same criteria you would for a physical college, just in a different context. If an online school is right for you, it should stand up to the test.

Choosing a Distance Learning Program

Since more students are enrolling in distance learning programs, those considering enrolling in one should be cautious when selecting a program. Not all programs offer high quality education. Many institutions are cashing in on this demand for distance learning by offering programs that are sub-par or non-accredited. Therefore, those looking for a distance learning program should conduct thorough research before selecting one.

Formats Vary Widely…and So Do Costs

For starters, we’re using the term “online course” to mean a college course offered for credit that can be taken completely online. But within that narrow definition exist many different types of courses. Some are little more than correspondence courses: pre-recorded videos with minimal personal involvement from the professor. Some (like Ohio State’s online bachelors program) are videos recorded live and archived for later viewing. Others go far beyond video, offering richly interactive learning materials and robust professor interactions.

Costs also vary considerably. Many of the high-quality online programs are offered through traditional universities, where the online courses are just as expensive as their on-campus counterparts. Devon Haynie at US News found that most online courses from traditional 4-year programs cost $300-400 per credit hour, plus additional fees. She signed up for a personal finance course that cost $1300 total. There were discounts to be had for in-state tuition, and she found a community college option for $515.

Of course, a quick Google search reveals many low- and no-cost options. But beware: many of these are from unaccredited schools or can’t be taken for college credit. As a rule of thumb, if something is worth $1300 from a well-known school, you should view with suspicion the $25 version from a school you’ve never heard of.

Bottom line: expect to pay a decent amount for decent quality online education, and understand that courses will vary in format and quality.

Know What You’re Paying For

Along the same lines, it’s important to know what you’re paying for before you buy. If you’re enrolling in an entirely online program, this comes into play before you enroll. Do your research. US News offers an independent ranking of entirely online programs, with in-depth reviews of the top programs.

If on the other hand you’re enrolling in a few courses here and there (perhaps to finish out a degree you’ve already started), you need to do your research for each course. Say you paid $1000 for a robust, high-quality course and were happy with your investment. Will you be happy to drop another $1000 on a lesser quality course? Make sure you know what you’re getting before you buy.

Know What’s Expected of You

Online courses are marketed to busy professionals and adults trying to complete degrees. Marketers emphasize the freedom and convenience, but these courses are still a ton of work. Before you enroll in and pay for a course, find out what kind of time commitment you’re making. Many college courses, online or not, require 15 hours or more per week. Some have huge projects that spike the needed time drastically upward one or two weeks of the semester.

Bottom line: take the time to find out what will be expected of you, then evaluate whether you are able to give that kind of time—before you buy.

Have a Plan

If your ultimate goal is a degree, then taking an online class here or there because the content sounds interesting or useful isn’t a real plan. Instead, you need to create a plan that leads to your goal.

You may be part-way through a residential degree program, looking to fill some course gaps. You may be working on getting an academic head start by knocking out some early courses online before heading to a residential program. Or you may be looking for a degree that can be earned entirely online. Whatever your approach, be sure to formulate a plan that leads to a degree before enrolling in an online course.

The good news is you shouldn’t need to go it alone. You should have access to a faculty advisor or coach who can help you craft this plan. If your prospective online college can’t offer you this kind of guidance, consider that a red flag.

Understand Some Potential Downsides

Online programs can leave students feeling a bit isolated. Face-to-face (two-way) video interaction with instructors is rare to nonexistent, and collaboration with classmates is often limited to chat and email. The collaboration and camaraderie residential students enjoy just isn’t there. Look for programs that work hard to overcome this, but understand that it’s an issue even in the best programs.

Online programs have a lower graduation rate than residential or blended (part residential, part online) programs, notes James Paterson at EducationDive. Experts disagree on the reasons why, but it may have to do with the greater level of self-motivation and direction that’s needed to succeed while feeling all on your own.

To offset these downsides, look for quality online programs with robust student services and student support. The old adage “you get what you pay for” is generally true here: the cheapest courses have the lowest levels of student support.

Know Your Way Around a Computer

You don’t have to be a technology expert to make online college work, but you do need to be conversant. Every school has its own learning management system, or LMS. You may need to troubleshoot why video isn’t playing (do you have the necessary software/codec/browser?). Courses will have their own platforms and systems and even sometimes specialized software. And of course, nothing works without a stable internet connection.

Bottom line: if the lingo in the previous paragraph scares you, you may need to brush up on your computer skills before diving into online education.

Realize That Convenient Doesn’t Mean Easy

Online classes and degree programs offer a measure of convenience that a traditional residential program can’t match. The ability to watch lectures from anywhere and on your own timetable is indispensable for some. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that an online program will be easier than an in-person one. Quality online programs are just as rigorous as their brick-and-mortar counterparts.

In fact, some students may find online programs more difficult than residential programs. The content is the same, but online programs lack some of the accountability and presence of traditional programs. In a traditional program, students have to show up at a set time 2 or 3 times a week. And when they do miss class, those students have to face the teacher’s disapproving gaze the next class period. It’s much easier to fall behind when you’re left to set your own schedule. And it’s easier to let things slide when you don’t feel the in-person pressure from the professor.

Ensure Your Credits Will Transfer Before Enrolling

If you have any college credit to your name already, be sure your existing college credit and your prospective online education will play nice. The goal is to graduate from one school or the other, but not every school accepts credits from every other school. And some schools may accept some credits but not others from another school. Whether you intend to earn your degree from the online or the traditional university, be certain that all your needed credits will transfer. Do this before enrolling online.

MOOCs Are No Substitute for Traditional Online Courses

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are trendy. You can learn from professors at elite universities, for free! And as a general enrichment tool, they are pretty cool. But make no mistake: MOOCs are no substitute for more conventional (and less free) online courses. They have a low completion rate and usually have little accountability or assessment. The vast majority of MOOCs don’t offer college credits, either. Class Central reports on a few ways to take MOOCs for credit, but the primary way of doing so turns the free course into a $649 course. With that kind of price tag, why not go the conventional route and benefit from interaction with your professor?

Bottom line: take these for fun or for general enrichment. But if you’re looking to earn a degree, these almost certainly aren’t the right choice for you.

Look for Accreditation

Schools offering online degree programs can be accredited just like traditional colleges and universities. Accreditation is a kind of seal of approval granted by an independent accrediting organization. These organizations evaluate a school’s quality and verify whether the school complies with education law.

Some employers and many graduate schools require an accredited degree for either hire or admission. Don’t shortchange yourself by spending time and effort to earn a degree from an unaccredited school. It’s not worth the risk.

Student Success

You want your diploma to be the key to future opportunities, not just a piece of paper. Other than accreditation, how can you better know what your degree can accomplish for you?

Start by looking at student success. Quality programs will advertise their student successes. They may advertise high boards passing percentages in a nursing program, above-average med school acceptance rates, or a percentage of prospective graduates hired before graduation. These statistics don’t guarantee you your dream job, of course, but they do suggest which programs and schools are high in quality.

Conversely, investigate graduation/completion rates and rate of student loan defaults. Low graduation rates and high default rates suggest a program is not serving its students well. According to a Chicago Tribune story by Maria Danilova, for-profit colleges are the worst offenders by both these metrics.

Graduation rates are easily obtainable, and the higher, the better. Remember, though, that online program graduation rates overall will be lower than residential programs. The rate of student loan defaults can be trickier to track down, as schools aren’t required to divulge this. But this is the internet: if a school gets a bad reputation in this area, it won’t be too hard to find out.

What Makes a Good Online Course?

Not all online classes are created equal. Unfortunately, there’s a whole heap of shoddily produced, bore-you-to-tears classes out there that, in the end, just don’t provide quality education. On the other hand, there are some truly inspired, engaging, and educational classes that really live up to the potential of distance learning. Here are a few key factors that make all the difference to the quality of online courses:

1. Proper Pacing

It’s a fine balance to strike, but the best online courses are the ones which are properly paced. Proper pacing means the student is neither bored nor overwhelmed; they have plenty of time–and notice–to complete large projects, but also are kept engaged by small assignments in the interim. These small assignments should never stack up and bury the student in stress and anxiety, nor should they be pointless, tedious busy work.

2. Multimedia Integration

The really exciting part of online classes is the fact that they can present content in ways that books and lectures can’t. Great online courses take advantage of this fact, and incorporate various multimedia elements into the presentation, such as videos, podcasts, interactive activities, and more. This is certainly more engaging than reading a long text document, and the information is much more likely to be retained. It’s not enough, however, to simply add in multimedia for multimedia’s sake. The content must be done well, and with a clear purpose. A forty-minute video of the professor mumbling into his webcam does not qualify as good use of multimedia.

3. Quality Content

When a course’s content is of high quality, you find yourself engaged and curious, and as a result you learn much more naturally. This is in stark contrast to those courses which only use dismal, bland textbooks and regurgitative, fill-in-the-blank quizzes. Low quality content feels like a chore, and the information is seldom retained. High quality content can be of any modality: videos, websites, audio presentations, etc. What’s important is this: does it lend itself to natural learning? Would an expert in the field recommend it to anyone curious about the subject, regardless of the online class? This is the sort of content used by the best online courses.

4. Self-Directed Learning

The best online classes recognize that their students are adults who have the ability to make up their own mind and take responsibility for their own education. When the course is too micromanaged, when the assignments are dictated to the smallest detail, students become frustrated or, at best, don’t make any meaningful discoveries on their own. Good online courses give students the freedom to design their own projects and explore the aspects of the subject which are most interesting to them.

5. Community Connection

One of the biggest risks that online courses face is a sense of student isolation. Great online courses combat this risk by encouraging online interaction between students and faculty. For example, a class may have an off-topic discussion board, where students can feel free to chat about anything that interests them–the playoffs, for example, or a tasty new recipe. Or a class may require students to work on a group project together via an online forum. This fosters a sense of community, and gives students the support needed to ask questions or seek guidance.

6. Multiple Learning Modalities

Everyone learns differently. Some students are very visually oriented; others need to hear information out loud to retain it. The best online courses integrate as many learning modalities as possible–visual, auditory, kinesthetic, musical, and so on–into the presentation. This way, students are able to study in the way that works best for them.

7. Intuitive Navigation

The layout of the course should be clear and easy to follow. Students should always know what to do next, and should always know how to access relevant information and resources. The best courses have been reviewed by third party organizations and are designed to be intuitive to navigate.

8. Reliable Technology

Many courses, in an attempt to be flashy or stylish, utilize a host of technologies in their presentation, often requiring students to download a dozen new plug-ins or sign up for outside services. The problem with this is that it doesn’t always work, and everyone wastes a boatload of time and energy troubleshooting. The best courses use only technologies which are as reliable and as universally supported as possible. This makes the online learning experience much more pleasant for everyone involved.

9. Room for Additional Exploration

Great online courses provide curious students with resources which provide additional information and a greater depth of detail. It’s another fine balance: having too many supplemental add-ons can be confusing or stressful, but it’s important to give students an opportunity to learn more if they wish to do so. The key is to clearly differentiate the core class requirements from the additional resources, so students know exactly what’s expected of them, and what options are available.

10. Creative Design

It’s a hard quality to define, but the best courses are designed to give students a varied and fresh learning experience week after week. All too often, online courses fall into a formula, and repeat that formula over and over for the entire duration of the class. This will be a very dull experience for the students, and the actual educational value of the course will suffer as well. The best courses are designed by people who put careful thought and focused effort towards creating a unique and engaging class experience, from start to finish.

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• 35 of the BEST Educational Apps for Teachers (Updated 2024)

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Today’s education landscape needs leaders like you — dynamic educators and innovators committed to making sustainable and scalable change for all students by building on your professional experience in PreK–12 classrooms and districts; on college and university campuses; or in philanthropies, nonprofits, policy organizations, and ed-tech initiatives.

That’s why the Harvard Graduate School of Education launched an online Master's in Education Leadership, a two-year, part-time Ed.M. program with Higher Education and PreK-12 pathways specifically designed for working education professionals who bring at least seven years of relevant or transferrable work experience. The program will strengthen the invaluable skills you’ve already developed and give you the tools to propel yourself to new leadership opportunities and to even greater impact.

“Skilled leadership is essential to creating opportunity and overcoming the longstanding inequities that create barriers to success. At HGSE, we are committed to helping you meet today’s complex challenges by becoming the type of leader education needs.” Bridget Long Dean and Saris Professor of Education and Economics Harvard Graduate School of Education

A New Option for Experienced Educators

The online Master's in Education Leadership from HGSE consists of a diverse cohort of professionals like you — leaders who are advancing in their careers, and who bring important perspectives grounded in real-world challenges. Our program is conducted almost exclusively online — except for one short on-campus experience, where you'll meet your cohort in person and build community prior to the start of the first fall semester.

The program offers a distinctive Harvard experience — including deep engagement and interaction with Harvard faculty and talented peers, as well as a lifelong professional network — within an intentionally designed curriculum and robust opportunities for mentorship and coaching. The program is career-embedded — so you can immediately apply what you are learning, in real time, to the work you are doing on the ground. 

Two Pathways: Higher Education and PreK–12

In the online Master’s in Education Leadership, you will choose between two Professional Pathways — Higher Education or PreK–12 — that align with the area of practice or the student community in which your work will make an impact. Students interested in advancing into senior leadership roles in colleges and universities, or in organizations that impact higher education, should study in the Higher Education Pathway . Students who want to do change-making work within the education ecosystem on behalf of students from early childhood to secondary education levels should select the PreK–12 Pathway .

Our prescribed curriculum is intentionally designed to meet your professional needs. It is anchored in both foundational knowledge and core competencies in education leadership related to the U.S. education system. You will also complete pathway-specific courses to advance your leadership in higher education or preK–12 education, as well as the Foundations courses. You will also have the opportunity to select courses from a small subset of electives. A minimum of 42 credits are required to graduate with an Ed.M. degree from HGSE.

The main elements of the curriculum are: 

Foundations Courses

Throughout the two-year program, you will participate in Foundations courses in four areas: How People Learn, Leading Change, Evidence, and Equity and Opportunity. Through the Foundations, you’ll build core skills central to the profession of education.

• The online Ed.M. program commences with How People Learn, which runs online June–July and requires a time commitment of 12–15 hours per week.  
• Additional Foundations learning goals and experiences tied to Leading Change and Equity and Opportunity will be incorporated into other required courses during your two-year program.

Professional Pathways

All students will choose between the Higher Education and PreK–12 Pathways. Throughout the program, you will take both cross-pathway courses and pathway-specific courses. Cross-pathway courses will allow you to develop leadership skills that are important across sectors, as well as have discussions about how higher education and preK–12 can work more effectively together. Cross-pathway courses include:

• Real Talk: The Art and Practice of Communications 
• Strategic Finance for Nonprofit Leaders

Pathway-specific courses are directed to the knowledge and skills important for leadership in the Pathway professional setting. 

Elective Coursework

Students will have the opportunity to choose from a curated list of electives during the optional January terms, and during the fall and spring of their second year. Sample elective courses: 

• Law and Higher Education
• Leading a School through Challenge and Crisis   
• Race, Equity, and Leadership 
• Teaching Exceptional Learners in Inclusive Classrooms 
• Why Can’t Higher Education Change? 
• Writing Workshop   

Note: Though some courses may include comparative and international examples, applicants should expect a focus on leadership within U.S. domestic educational institutions and systems. 

Leadership Core Competencies

To help you manage, lead, and implement change in complex organizations, our curriculum explores the core leadership competencies that you'll need to elevate your skills, knowledge, and expertise, wherever you are in your career. Throughout your coursework, you will strengthen your ability to:

• Lead change and think strategically 
• Foster productive organizational conditions 
• Navigate politics and practice political inclusion
• Communicate effectively 
• Cultivate self-development and team professional development skills 

Higher Education Pathway

All students will choose between the Higher Education and PreK–12 Pathways. The Higher Education Pathway prepares you to be a dynamic leader in a diverse range of postsecondary education contexts. It is designed to increase your knowledge of the practices, policies, processes, challenges, and opportunities in American postsecondary education. You will enhance your repertoire of strategies and management skills for tackling critical issues and introducing change — while preparing you to advance in your current career or move into other important leadership roles in higher education.  

Sample courses for the Higher Education Pathway: 

• Creating the Future of American Postsecondary Education 
• Higher Education Leadership & Governance 
• Student Affairs in Higher Education: Theory-Driven Practices to Help Students Thrive 

You will also have the opportunity to engage with accomplished leaders through HGSE’s unique President-in-Residence program. 

Students interested in the Higher Education Pathway currently hold administrative and mid-level leadership roles: 

• Colleges and universities, including in academic affairs, student affairs, admissions and enrollment management, advancement, and institutional research
• Nonprofit education organizations
• State and federal government agencies 
• Policy organizations focused on higher education

PreK–12 Pathway

All students will choose between the Higher Education and PreK–12 Pathways. The PreK–12 Pathway equips you to advance your leadership across the preK–12 landscape, including in such positions as teacher leader, principal, afterschool director, education agency representative, education nonprofit/philanthropic leader, or education entrepreneur.  

Sample courses for the PreK–12 Pathway: 

• Strategic Leadership in the PreK–12 Ecosystem 
• Creating Conditions for Effective School, Family, and Community Partnerships 
• Leading Learning

Students interested in the PreK-12 Pathway currently hold administrative and mid-level leadership roles in:

• PreK–12 schools, including as principals, assistant principals, and department heads
• Nonprofit education organizations (I.e., foundations, advocacy organizations, technical assistant organizations).
• Policy organizations focused on preK–12 education 

Projected Time Commitment

Courses combine synchronous meetings and asynchronous work and assignments. Live or synchronous aspects of required courses will occur on weekdays (Monday–Friday) between 6 and 9 p.m. ET . Some elective courses, outside the required curriculum, may be offered at alternative times. On average, this degree requires 12 to 18 hours of work per week, though the weekly commitment will vary by term, courses taken, and students' own work styles. Students can expect to spend approximately five to seven hours per week in synchronous online class sessions with faculty members and classmates. The remaining hours will be spent working independently on asynchronous class preparation, in self-scheduled small-group work with other students or working on assignments. 

Weekly Time Estimate

To complete the online Ed.M. in Education Leadership, students must complete 42 total credit hours of coursework over the two-year program. While the weekly time commitment varies, the graphic below provides a snapshot of the estimated weekly time commitment students may experience during the fall and spring semesters, when they will typically take 8 credits, the equivalent of two courses . 

Synchronous

Includes live, scheduled sessions with faculty members and other students.

Asynchronous

Self-paced activities, discussion posts, and other course-related work.

Assignments

Readings, projects, papers, research, etc.

Total Estimated Weekly Hours

Hours reflect estimates and vary by term, course, and student work style.

Occurs between Monday-Friday, according to a specific schedule.

Asynchronous work and assignments will have clear deadlines or milestones, but students can set their own schedules to complete this work. Note that there may be days or weeks during the semester that are busier than average, requiring more than the estimated time shown.

Program Faculty

The faculty co-chair for the Higher Education Pathway is Francesca Purcell . The faculty co-chair for the PreK–12 Pathway is Irvin Scott .

Faculty Co-Chairs

Francesca Purcell

Francesca Purcell is a specialist in higher education policy and practice, with expertise on topics including college completion, student transfer, and developmental education.

Irvin Leon Scott

A former teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, chief academic officer, and foundation leader, Irvin Scott's focus is on education leadership and faith-based education.

James P. Honan

Karen L. Mapp

Timothy Patrick McCarthy

Mary Grassa O'Neill

Alexis Redding

On-Campus Experience

Prior to kicking off your first fall semester, you will participate in the On-Campus Institute, an immersive experience on the HGSE campus in Cambridge. This will provide the opportunity to not only form deep relationships with your cohort, but also learn together with the faculty and advisers with whom you will spend two years. The immersive residential experience is a core component to the two-year degree program that is required of all students in the program. 

Over several days in late July and/or early August, you and your fellow peers will discuss your professional experiences and examine some of the persistent challenges in your organizations. You will immerse yourself in rich exercises and community building, set expectations of what it means to be in a rigorous HGSE degree program, and set intentions for yourself, your cohort, and your course of study. 

Career Pathways

The Master's in Education Leadership Program prepares you to advance to a senior leadership role in a variety of career pathways, including:

• Academic affairs 
• Admissions and financial aid
• Development
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Institutional research
• Student affairs

PreK-12 Pathway

• Education entrepreneur
• Executive director for an education nonprofit
• Principal* or head of school 
• Program officer for a foundation 
• School department head
• School designer and developer
• School district or network leader
• Teacher leader

Overall Program

• Education nonprofit CEO/COO 
• Educational advocate and organizer 
• Entrepreneur 

*Note: This program is not able to provide principal certification at this time.

Introduce Yourself

Tell us about yourself so that we can tailor our communication to best fit your interests and provide you with relevant information about our programs, events, and other opportunities to connect with us.

Program Highlights

Explore examples of the Online Master's in Education experience and the impact its community is making on the field:

Same Questions, One Year Apart

Online Master’s in Education students reflect on their first year in the program

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Clemson announces fully online Master of Science in Computer Science degree with distance learning partner Coursera

Clemson University has partnered with Coursera to offer a fully online Master of Science in Computer Science degree (MSCS), empowering working adults by blending flexibility with real-time collaboration. The AI-focused computer science program prepares students for a rapidly evolving workforce, educating future technical leaders to thoughtfully use AI to solve society’s most pressing challenges and create a positive impact. Students can watch lecture videos anytime while engaging with peers and tenure-track faculty and can complete the MSCS in approximately 20 to 36 months. “Our partnership with Coursera supports an important pillar of the Clemson Elevate strategic plan to deliver the No. 1 student experience. This Master of Science in Computer Science program allows Clemson to expand innovative instruction while driving educational growth and workforce development in a rapidly changing field that crosscuts industries, communities and skillsets,” said Clemson University’s Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Robert H. Jones. This 10-course program features a: – New AI-first curriculum. Leading faculty within Clemson’s School of Computing designed the MSCS to contain five AI courses, responding to a growing demand for AI skills. – Strong emphasis on ethics. To positively harness the power of AI, the program teaches students how to examine the implications of each AI system before exploring it further. – Robust theoretical foundation and real-world skills. Students learn core software engineering principles needed to build reliable, scalable software systems before diving into advanced topics, including deep learning, data science and data mining. – Hands-on approach to learning. By completing complex projects in real-world computing environments, students actively apply their knowledge and build a substantial portfolio. “This Master of Science in Computer Science program is timely, industry-relevant and thoughtfully designed to be approachable to learners from many backgrounds, for example those looking for opportunities for mid-career advancement. The modern and cutting-edge curriculum ensures that learners can succeed, whether they hold a formal computer science background or whether their computing background comes from prior real-world experience. We are excited to be able to partner with Coursera to offer this program at Clemson University,” said Brian Dean, professor and C.  Tycho Howle  Director of the  Clemson School of Computing. Enrollment opens May 1, with the first courses beginning in August 2024. To learn more, visit Coursera online .

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Original research article, the problems of the covid-19 pandemic in higher education.

• 1 Laboratory of Humanistic Approach in Education, Moscow City University, Moscow, Russia
• 2 Department of Psychology and Pedagogy, Ulyanovsk State University, Ulyanovsk, Russia
• 3 Department of Psychology, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow, Russia
• 4 Department of Pedagogy and Psychology of Professional Education, K.G. Razumovsky Moscow State University of Technologies and Management, The First Cossack University, Moscow, Russia
• 5 Department of Psychology and Human Capital Development, Financial University Under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
• 6 Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russia
• 7 Department of Public Administration and Social Technologies, Moscow Aviation Institute, National Research University, Moscow, Russia

Since the outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19, many studies have been conducted to examine how education has responded to the challenges of a completely new situation that has led to the spread of distance education as the only form of instruction. In this study, data were collected and analyzed to understand the difficulties of distance education that higher education students faced during the pandemic. Our goal was to present the results of a socio-psychological study of accessibility, educational resources, applications, and distance learning technologies. A total of 160 students from different Moscow universities participated in the study. A qualitative research method was used for the study. For this purpose, mainly in-depth interviews were conducted to find out the participants’ views on distance education. The data obtained were analyzed by the researchers using qualitative analysis methods. The results showed that all students faced technical difficulties during distance learning, such as poor internet connection, lack of access to online platforms due to the high number of users, lack of necessary equipment, and individual space for online learning. The results also showed low technical readiness for distance education and low quality of online resources, as well as cyber threats during online courses. In addition, the results showed that most students indicated that they would prefer a hybrid form of instruction that combines distance and face-to-face instruction. Implications for further studies are drawn in the conclusion.

Introduction

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most pressing research topics around the world has been the introduction of distance learning and the development of online education and training ( Jacques et al., 2020 , 2021 ; Zagkos et al., 2022 ). All over the world, research has focused on how education is responding to the challenges of an entirely new situation in which distance education has become the only form of knowledge acquisition and learning. The initiative of the consortium of participants in the World Education Leadership Symposium ( Vachkova et al., 2022 ) and the international project World School Leadership Study [WSLS] ( Huber and Spillane, 2016 ) can serve as an example of an international project. This project collected and analyzed data on the difficulties faced by school education participants around the world in the context of the pandemic and the full transition to distance education. The scientific community around the world has been struggling to cope with the global risks and challenges created by the pandemic COVID-19. This situation has led to the accumulation of research studies on the problem and the development of distance education in schools to investigate the most effective ways to solve the challenges under extreme conditions during the pandemic. The analysis of existing research on the aforementioned problems revealed several opportunities to identify new trends in the development of distance education during the pandemic ( Galimova et al., 2019 ; Ulyanina, 2020 ).

Methodological Framework

Experience in the implementation of distance education: international analysis of practices.

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 led to the largest disruption of the entire education system in the world. More than 1.5 billion students in more than 190 countries had to leave school to go to school. The closure of schools and other educational institutions affected exactly 94% of the world’s students ( United Nations, 2020 ). Moreover, the disruption of the educational process has serious consequences not only in the context of ensuring the right of students to education but also in the context of the economic and socio-political development of higher education. On the other hand, the crisis in the school system has triggered a new impetus for the emergence and development of innovative methods in the educational process ( Lipatova et al., 2015 ; Kalinina et al., 2017 ; Salakhova et al., 2017 ; Valeeva et al., 2018 ; Joshi et al., 2020 ). From this perspective, educational innovations have affected all educational stakeholders, including parents, students, and teachers. To ensure continuity of learning during the pandemic, innovative approaches such as radio and television broadcasts were used for school lessons. In addition, other measures such as e-interviews ( Temsah et al., 2021a ), video interviews ( Joshi et al., 2020 ), mobile learning ( Bacolod, 2022 ), and distance learning ( Mitin and Mitina, 2020 ; Tugun et al., 2020 ; Usak et al., 2020 ; Nagovitsyn et al., 2021 ; Qarkaxhja et al., 2021 ; Rerke et al., 2021 ) were taken to ensure continuity of the educational process.

In Argentina, for example, an educational website called “Seguimos Educando” has been created for students at all levels of schooling ( Argentine Ministry of Education, 2021a ). Seguimos Educando uses a virtual platform that brings together television, radio, and print media to provide educational support to students. In addition, a variety of digital technologies (with a description and download links) were created and published for students ( Argentine Ministry of Education, 2021b ). Collections of digital teaching materials and resources for students, organized by grade level, have been published through this platform ( Argentine Ministry of Education, 2021c ).

Austria is another country that has implemented effective distance education practices. For this, a specialized section for students, teachers, and parents has been created on the website of the Ministry of Education, which contains up-to-date information on the implementation of distance learning during the pandemic ( BMBWF, 2021 ). The Austrian Ministry of Education has developed the Eduthek content platform, which includes educational materials for learners of all ages. To improve the effectiveness of online education, a portal for distance learning services has been developed in this country. The provision of consulting services organized by the Austrian government for all participants in the educational environment deserves special attention. In another country, distance education is based on the use of educational television and broadcasting educational technologies through the YouTube channel in Brazil ( YouTube, 2021 ). An educational online platform “AULA EM CASA” has also been designed to answer the need to shift training to the online mode.

Since March 2020, a digital learning system has been implemented in the territory of Bulgaria, which provides information and methodological support for all students. The country has also created a National Electronic Library (electronic content repository), which publishes materials from expert teachers on their activities in the digital environment. Education in schools is carried out on the Microsoft Teams platform ( Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria, 2020 ).

The experiences of distance learning in the United Kingdom indicate that the country has carried out large-scale work not only to create innovative technologies for teaching practice but also to implement a reform to the school system. In addition to the educational platforms, the country is constantly monitoring the implementation of the child’s rights in education (control and supervision of the activities of mobile operators, control of Internet providers, collection of information about the operation of online platforms) ( Find Government Services and Information GOV.UK, 2020 ; National Literacy Trust, 2020 ).

A specialized platform Aptus has been developed in Chile, on which digital resources are collected to provide distance learning (video lectures, assessment, and monitoring system) ( Aptus Potenciadora Educacional, 2020 ). China has created and operated a national state educational online platform with total coverage of more than 180 million students and support for 7,000 servers ( China National Online Education Platform, 2020 ). Colombia has created Aprender digital, a digital platform of the Ministry of Education, with over 80,000 digital learning resources, organized by grades in various forms (games, videos, etc.), available to teachers, principals, and other stakeholders in the educational process, covering preschool, primary and secondary school education ( RTVC y Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 2020 ). For families who do not have access to the Internet, the government has developed a homeschooling kit. Also, in the territory of the country, educational programs are broadcast on state radio and television for primary and secondary school students. In Croatia, students can access digital content through the portal “Skolaza Zivot” ( Ministry of Science and Education of The Republic of Croatia, 2020 ). Instruction in educational institutions is carried out using platforms: Loomen, Microsoft Teams, and Yammer.

The experiences of the Czech Republic have included a specialized website “distance education” that was designed for implementing distance learning ( Specialized website “Distance education”, 2020 ). The developed platform includes a wide range of opportunities for the realization and support of online learning: digital content for students, a list of links to digital educational resources, practical advice for teachers and parents with detailed video instructions, training webinars, and masterclasses, etc. In France, the epidemiological situation prompted the creation of the online portal Ma classe à la Maison by the National Center for Distance Education (CNED) ( Ministre de l’Education Nationale de la Jeunesse et des Sports, 2020 ). The online portal Ma classe à la Maison is not only a set of educational resources but also an “educational device,” the architecture and structure of which are aimed at helping the student in mastering new educational material. The technical and methodological support of the online portal is carried out by the CNED service, which increases the effectiveness of the educational activities of the teacher. In addition, educational content is hosted in digital work environments: “Environment Numérique de travail”–ENT; EcoleDirecte, ProNote, etc.–internal school networks (intranets). In addition, television, and radio broadcasting facilities (France Télévisions, Radio France, Arte, and National Education) are included in the educational process to expand learning opportunities in France. The resources are available through podcasts, streaming, or playback on national websites and platforms.

The experience of implementing distance learning in Italy also testifies to the development and creation of new educational resources and online platforms ( Ministero dell’IstruzioneMinistero dell’Università e della Ricerca, 2020 ). Italy has also created the platform of the National Institute for Documentary, Innovative and Educational Research (INDIRE), aimed at providing methodological support for teachers in the development of information technology ( INDIRE, 2020 ). National television and radio broadcasting programs have been used to implement online educational activities in Italy. Great importance in the country’s education system has been given to pedagogical training and the continuity of distance learning practices [La Scuola per la Scuola community; Next-Level Association; ITE Tosi; Institute of Educational Technologies (ITD) of the National Research Council].

In Spain, the INTEF educational platform has been created to ensure the online educational process, which includes more than 100 thousand educational resources in various Procomún formats ( INTEF, 2021 ); the educational portal Educlan for professional adaptation of teachers to the distance learning mode ( EDUCLAN, 2020 ). Distance education in the United States varies from state to state. For example, in South Carolina, the online state program VirtualSC has been developed ( VirtualSC, 2020 ). North Carolina has an online collection of resources and best educational practices ( North Carolina Remote Learning Resources, 2020 ). Mainly e-mail, Zoom, and Google Meet have been used as communication tools between teacher and student.

In India, educational portals were used to implement distance learning portal “DIKSHA” ( DIKSHA, 2020 ); “E-Pathshala” ( NCERT, 2020 ); the portal of the National Repository of Open Educational Resources “NROER” ( NROER, 2020 ); Swayam Prabha ( Swayam Prabha, 2020 ). In Indonesia, distance education is supported by the educational television “Televisi Pendidikan Indonesia” ( Televisi Pendidikan Indonesia, 2020 ). The platform “Rumah Belajar” ( Rumah Belajar, 2020 ) provides a learning management system, digital lesson delivery, e-textbooks, and assessment tools. Other educational platforms included Google Suite Education, Smart Class, Microsoft Teams, Quipper School, Sekolahmu, and Kelas Pintar.

In Jamaica, educational materials have been prepared for students who do not have the opportunity to access the internet. TV lessons and transmissions are included in the educational process (for example, “School is not OUT” on the TJ Live channel). Also, access has been provided to digital educational resources (One on One Educational Services, Cheetah, Book Fusion, Edufocal, Learning Hub, CSEC COVID-19 Toolkit, etc.).

There are four main platforms for educational programs and resources for students in Kenya for organizing distance education: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation “KBC” ( Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, 2020 ); educational television programs are broadcast on Edu channel TV; KICD EduTV in Kenya on YouTube channel; Kenyan Education Cloud-hosted and supervised by KICD ( Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, 2020 ). To overcome the lack of Internet connectivity, Kenyan authorities have launched a program to use the Loon Google stratospheric balloon network with 4G LTE base stations ( Loon Google Stratospheric Balloon Program, 2020 ). In Mexico, distance education “telesecundaria” has been used since 1968, and this state has not had particular difficulties in switching to online education due to the pandemic ( Gobierno de México, 2021 ).

The presented international experience in organizing distance education, regardless of the level of economic development and experience in implementing the country’s information technologies, allows us to conclude that all countries have made many efforts to maintain the educational process and offer online learning.

Experiences in Organizing Online Education in Russia

Across the Russian Federation, as well as in foreign countries around the world, a set of measures was carried out aimed at organizing activities for the transition of the education system to the online format. Large-scale research and monitoring, revealing the specifics of organized measures, were carried out both by the scientific community and by representatives of state authorities. For example, the HSE Laboratory of Media Communications in Education studied the experience of teachers who were in transition to distance learning ( HSE University, 2020 ). More than 22 thousand teachers from 73 territorial entities of the Russian Federation did participate in the study. Four main problems were determined in the analyses. These are difficulties in giving lessons via video communication; lack of practice in the use of online resources; technical difficulties and organizational difficulties. The study concluded that, despite the indicated difficulties, all teachers quickly mastered the required digital skills and successfully adapted to the new form of teaching. This finding is reflected in the UNESCO report on the progress of distance learning during the pandemic ( UNESCO, 2020 ).

The People’s Foundation conducted a study whose results showed that more than 80% of teachers faced organizational, technical, and adjustment difficulties in implementing distance education. Among the students’ problems, teachers mentioned the lack of necessary equipment for online learning ( via computers, tablets, phones) and problems with Internet connection ( Vachkova et al., 2022 ). The study of students’ and parents’ opinions on distance education was the subject of a study conducted by experts from the project PF “Equal Opportunities for Children” and the National Education Resources Foundation. The results of their analysis showed that the overwhelming majority of both school children and parents do not want to replace offline learning with a distance form. More than 80% of respondents (children and parents) also reported technical difficulties, slow internet connection speed, and deficiencies in educational platforms and resources.

The analysis of the results of the transition to distance education was conducted by Moscow State Pedagogical College, HSE Institute of Education ( Adamovich et al., 2020 ), and their international partners, Research Center for the Socialization and Personalization of Children’s Education at FIRO RANEPA ( Tarasova et al., 2020 ), NAFI Analytical Center, etc. The results of these studies confirm that, in general, the Russian education system has coped well with the transition to online mode. However, many teachers have found that the transition to distance education has caused a different range of problems that require additional effort. Therefore, the present study aims to understand the difficulties of distance education faced by higher education students during the pandemic. We also aimed to understand the accessibility, educational resources, applications, and distance education technologies in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research Methods

Since this study is empirical research to understand the difficulties of distance education faced by higher education students during the pandemic, an exploratory and descriptive case study approach was used. In-depth interviews were the main data collection tool. Case study research is appropriate for the acquisition of an in-depth understanding of the behavior and experiences of individual participants in a natural setting ( Patton, 2002 ).

A large-scale socio-psychological study among students from Moscow universities was carried out to study the problems of accessibility, educational resources, applications, and distance educational technologies during the pandemic. The research included in-depth interviews of the participants voluntarily. An unstructured interview was conducted with students according to a previously prepared script (guide) with audio recording. The interviews were conducted by researchers with training in the interview process. Interviews averaged 20 min in length. Interviews were recorded with the participants’ permission. All the interviews were transcribed and reviewed by researchers. To collect the data for the present study, necessary approval procedures were received by the Moscow City University, which enrolled the participants in this study. This research was conducted under the approval of the Moscow City University institutional review board.

The developed script of the interviews, which provided the possibility of subsequent use of qualitative analysis of the processing of the data, served as a toolkit. When developing the interview guides, various types and forms of questions were used to determine general and specific problems in the accessibility, educational resources, applications, distance learning technologies, as well as their satisfaction with the services provided to them. To analyze the data gathered from the interviews, we used open-ended coding methods as suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1990) . A total number of 160 students from various Moscow universities were involved in the interviews. The participants’ demographic information is given in Table 1 . The participants were a convenience sample of higher education students who enrolled at the universities during the pandemic in Russia. All participants ranged in age from 18 to 27 ( M = 20.5, S.D. = 1.2). The key criterion was that all participants had to be higher education students. The participants were involved in the study voluntarily. The male to female ratio was 92–68. All of the participants were predominantly white people. Permission to conduct the study was granted by the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Education of the Moscow City University. Before beginning the interviews with the participants, they were informed about the purpose of the study so that they participated knowingly, and their confidentiality and anonymity were assured. The interviews were conducted between February 1, 2021 and June 1, 2021. The organizational platform of the online research was the Zoom service.

Table 1. Participants’ demographic information for the study ( n = 160).

In our study, responses from the interviews were used only to understand the difficulties of distance education faced by higher education students during the pandemic, and no statistical analysis was performed on the results. Since the data obtained from the interviews provide an in-depth understanding of the difficulties of distance education faced by higher education students during the pandemic, no other data sources were not included in the study.

In the data analysis, qualitative content analysis was conducted by researchers. For the analyses, all of the researchers read the transcripts. Later, the researchers began to code the transcripts. While doing this coding, researchers determined codes and themes that emerged from the data. The transcripts were constantly compared to see what patterns or themes emerged in the interview data. The coding of data into themes was conducted independently by two researchers. After this coding, two researchers met and compared their codes. When there was no consensus on codes, researchers discusses their coding and reached a consensus on the coding.

Trustworthiness in this study was ensured by using triangulation and member-checking methods. The triangulation aims to evaluate the accuracy of the data ( Merriam, 1998 ). For the triangulation, the authors sought to obtain rich data to answer the research question. Another method, member checking was used to reduce the impact of subjective bias ( Patton, 2002 ). For this procedure, the researchers distributed the analyzed themes from the interviews to the participants and asked them about the accuracy of the data.

In our results regarding the organizational conditions for distance learning, all students (160 people) emphasized the low technical readiness of electronic platforms and applications (Zoom, Teams), as well as the quality of these electronic resources on the Internet. The students indicated that the quality of courses did completely depend on the work of these electronic resources. Sample quotations from students’ are as follows: “We just flew out of Zoom, for example, and the screen darkened,” “The teachers were hard to hear and everything was always freezing,” “Problems emerged with connection and it was not clear what the lecturer was saying, I had to ask again.”

- In addition, 16 students out of 160 respondents reported cyber threats (attacks) while studying online. For example, “Hackers wrote. Someone wrote obscene phrases passing himself off as other students. We had a lot of such things. felt sorry for the teachers.”

- Almost all students, except for students living in a residence hall, mentioned the presence of their home workspace for distance learning. It was difficult for these students to organize their attendance in distance classes. All students had technical tools (computer/laptop/tablet/phone) for distance learning. However, most of the students (121 out of 160) generally preferred to use a tablet or phone rather than a computer. The following quotations for these results are: “Using the phone is more convenient and more mobile,” “You can walk around the house with it,” “You can attend to your business,” “You can stay in bed and turn on a lecture on the phone,” “You can turn on the lecture on the phone and at the same time do your homework on the computer.”

- Regarding the involvement of students in distance learning technologies, the participants expressed the following quotations: “At the beginning of the distance learning format it was interesting, and then it became terribly boring,” “Interactive activity was interesting, but not all lecturers bother with it,” “It was difficult to understand the subject and master the information. The poor quality of the Internet service always forced us to revise the material,” “Everything was easy and standard,” “It was just our duty to study remotely,” and “I kept on studying. There was no particular interest.”

- These listed judgments allow us to conclude that all students consider the transition to distance learning as a requirement for teaching. Students showed their interest in this form only at the beginning of self-isolation and explained it by the possibility of not attending a university. However, after the lapse of time, this interest was flagged. In addition, a negligent attitude toward online classes has appeared.

- As part of the study of student’s assessment of the quality of the provision of training courses, additional education during the period of distance learning and its impact on the quality of educational results, study load, contradictory data were obtained. Some students (89 out of 160 children) mentioned that the transition to distance learning has nothing to do with the quality of mastering academic disciplines and everything depends only on the student himself. Others, on the contrary, emphasized the importance of face-to-face education and the decline in learning outcomes due to the transition of classes to distance learning (71 out of 160). It is worth noting that the conclusions obtained on this block of questions do not find any relationship with the category of students but depend on individual personality traits (locus of control, level of development of the emotional-volitional sphere, the intellectual level of development, character traits, temperament, etc.).

- As part of the study, on the attitude of students to the future opportunities and directions of development of distance learning, 71 out of 160 students expressed negative attitudes. For example, among the students’ judgments about the future of distance learning, the following judgments were recorded: “I would rather keep attending classes at university. It is impossible to study at home. Home is not for learning,” “There must be no distance learning. There is no control. Nobody learns. Everyone goes about his business,” “I became more independent during my online studies,” “Everything is clear at university. The lecturer when he explains the material, you can ask, and he will explain everything. This cannot be done online,” and many others.

- However, 89 out of 160 students emphasized the importance of combining distance learning and the traditional form in the future: “It is advisable to combine distance learning and university studies. Some lectures can be missed,” “A 50% to 50% form would be ideal,” “Distance learning is more mobile and more rational. Why, under compulsion, attend classes that are not interesting and unnecessary”?

- The data obtained indicate that students of higher educational institutions in the city of Moscow have a more negative attitude to distance learning. However, despite their attitude, most students believe that the optimal form of training lies in a hybrid form. Students believe that only by combining distance learning online and full-time format, effective learning outcomes be possible. One hundred and twenty-nine students out of 160 said that “In our group, basically all students work, and it would be great if the attendance was not considered when assessing the student’s academic performance,” “I work and it is very difficult for me to get to the university physically by a certain time, but I’m fine I learn the material online. I am for online courses,” “There are subjects, for example, “of general orientation,” which can be changed over to an online format. The quality of education would only benefit from this,” “A hybrid form means new opportunities! It is cool and great.”

The purpose of this study was to explore the results of a socio-psychological study to understand the problems of accessibility, educational resources, applications, and distance educational technologies in higher education during the pandemic. Our results revealed that nearly all higher education students (160 people) did emphasize that they had problems with the low technical readiness of electronic platforms and applications (such as Zoom and Teams), as well as the quality of these electronic resources on the Internet in general. These results are consistent with those of studies conducted in other countries ( Leontyeva, 2018 ; Devkota, 2021 ; Lakshman Naik et al., 2021 ; Nsengimana et al., 2021 ; Zapata-Garibay et al., 2021 ). In general, many studies ( Leontyeva, 2018 ; Devkota, 2021 ; Lakshman Naik et al., 2021 ; Nsengimana et al., 2021 ; Zapata-Garibay et al., 2021 ) reported that the students in the higher education level had some problems regarding technical equipment, the quality of internet, and applications for distance education during the pandemic. The reason for these problems may be that the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic was at an unexpected time. Therefore, institutions, scholars, and students were not prepared for this pandemic and knowledgeable about what they would encounter in the pandemic. Because of this reason, the unpreparedness of all stakeholders including scholars, students, and universities for the pandemic can be explained as the reason for this result.

Another finding is that all students had technical tools such as computers, laptops, tablets, and phones for distance learning. However, the majority of the students (121 out of 160) generally did prefer to use a tablet or a phone for their internet connection rather than a computer. These results show that the use of tablets or phone is very common in higher education. Another point from this result is that most of the students had an opportunity to connect lessons in distance education. This result is parallel to those of Zapata-Garibay et al. (2021) . However, the same result contradicts the study of Rahiem (2020) who reported that university students in Indonesia had many deficiencies and inequities in finding a device to connect distance education lessons.

The results also revealed that more than half of the students (89 out of 160 children) indicated that the transition to distance learning has nothing to do with the quality of mastering academic disciplines and everything depends only on the student himself. This result is very similar to the findings of Lischer et al. (2021) who reported the experiences of the undergraduate student with coping with the challenges to their teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland. The study of Lischer et al. (2021) revealed that undergraduate students considered discussions in distance education as boring than in face-to-face teaching. From this perspective, the reason behind our results may be that distance education is not well-organized and/or implemented for the satisfaction of the students.

In addition, nearly half of the students in this study (71 out of 160 students) expressed negative attitudes to distance learning. This result is interesting for distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason for this result may be that, in general, the students were passive throughout lessons in distance education. This result is consistent with a recent study by Supriya et al. (2021) that shows that students perceived several negative impacts of the transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, these negative impacts were “… particularly on students’ perceived understanding of course content, interactions with other students and instructors, feeling like a part of the biology community at the university, and career preparation .” ( Supriya et al., 2021 , p. 10). As a result of this situation, students may have been boring during the teaching. Therefore, they might consider that lessons in distance education were more sluggish than face-to-face teaching. Another reason may be that poorly prepared lessons and the deficiencies in distance teaching may have caused this result. From this perspective, it can be concluded that face-to-face classes are a substitute for teaching in higher education.

Finally, nearly more than half of the students (89 out of 160 students) indicated the importance of combining distance learning and the traditional form in the future. This result is parallel to the comments of Lischer et al. (2021) . As it is well-known, institutions in various countries consider combining distance teaching and face-to-face learning from the beginning of the pandemic. This result may stem from the positive effects of active learning during face-to-face teaching. A recent study by Deslauriers et al. (2019) found that students who received active instruction had higher scores in the assessment. Based on our findings, it is important to combine distance and face-to-face teaching to overcome the deficiencies and inequities of distance learning during the pandemic. Based on the literature, there has been an effort to combine distance and face-to-face teaching in a hybrid form of teaching ( Lischer et al., 2021 ; Temsah et al., 2021b ).

The results obtained from this study showed that all students did experience technical difficulties during distance learning such as low quality of the internet connection, failure access to online platforms due to an increased number of users, lack of necessary equipment, and individual space for online classes. The results also showed that all the students depicted distance learning as a process of a high degree of complexity in terms of organizational, methodological, organizational, and technical work. In particular, the students pointed out the low level of technical readiness for online platforms and applications (such as Zoom, Teams) and the low quality of the online resources, as well as the presence of cyber threats during online courses. Our results also revealed that most of the students (129 out of 160 students) indicated that they would prefer a hybrid format for courses when switching to face-to-face education. In addition, our findings have revealed that students consider distance education technologies highly effective and motivating them in learning subjects. Namely, students believe that effective results of educational activities will be increased by combining distance and face-to-face education.

The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing. It is well-accepted that distance education is a part of teaching in higher education in the world. Because of this reason, more research is needed to examine and understand the effects of the pandemic on higher education. This study investigated the problems in the implementation of distance education in one country. Future studies should be conducted to explore the problems while implementing distance education in different countries so that differences and similarities between different countries may be revealed from these studies.

Limitations

One of the limitations of our study is the small number of participants. Our participants were students who enrolled at universities in Moscow city. It should be noted that the histories and experiences of this group in Russia are different from other students in other places of the world. Another limitation is that we used only interviews to understand the change and challenges in higher education during the pandemic. However, we agree that different data collections could be included in assessing the effects of the pandemic among higher education students. Future studies should consist of different data collection tools to obtain detailed data. Another limitation is that the data were based on the Russian higher education student’s views of the problems in distance teaching during the pandemic. We need to emphasize that the results of this research are not generalizable to the country’s situation in higher education.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords : distance learning, pandemic, COVID-19, the system of higher professional education, digital platforms

Citation: Salakhova VB, Shukshina LV, Belyakova NV, Kidinov AV, Morozova NS and Osipova NV (2022) The Problems of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Higher Education. Front. Educ. 7:803700. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.803700

Received: 28 October 2021; Accepted: 22 April 2022; Published: 16 May 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Salakhova, Shukshina, Belyakova, Kidinov, Morozova and Osipova. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Valentina B. Salakhova, [email protected]

† ORCID: Valentina B. Salakhova, orcid.org/0000-0002-5056-6518 ; Liudmila V. Shukshina, orcid.org/0000-0002-9378-6633 ; Natalia V. Belyakova, orcid.org/0000-0001-7116-9389 ; Alexey V. Kidinov, orcid.org/0000-0002-1826-208X ; Natalia S. Morozova, orcid.org/0000-0002-6453-1615 ; Natalia V. Osipova, orcid.org/0000-0002-9757-8057

This article is part of the Research Topic

Digital Transformation of Education in the Covid-19 Process and its Psychological Effects on Children

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Should online educational platforms offer courses following a schedule or release them on demand?

by Marilyn Stone, American Marketing Association

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pennsylvania have published a new Journal of Marketing study that examines online educational platforms and the question of whether they should release content through a scheduled format that resembles a traditional university course or use an on-demand release strategy.

The study is titled "More Likely to Pay but Less Engaged: The Effects of Switching Online Courses from Scheduled to On-Demand Release on User Behavior" and is authored by Joy Lu, Eric T. Bradlow, and J. Wesley Hutchinson.

In 2011, the online education industry catered to around 300,000 consumers. In 2021, it served 220 million, thanks in part to increased enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditional universities and institutions are increasingly adopting hybrid course formats. For example, the number of full-time online MBA students surpassed in-person MBA students for the first time in the 2020-21 academic year.

Today, online educational platforms like Coursera and edX offer a range of flexible course content, but these firms are faced with a tricky question: Should they release content through a scheduled format that resembles a traditional university course with a subset of lectures and quizzes available at the start of each week, or should they follow in the footsteps of Netflix and Hulu with an on-demand release strategy where all the material is immediately available upon registration?

This new article finds that the choice of format for content release not only impacts overall user engagement and firm revenue but also user performance and learning outcomes.

The researchers studied over 67,000 users taking an introductory marketing course on Coursera consisting of 32 short lecture videos and four quizzes. The study took advantage of a natural experiment policy change where the platform switched the course from a scheduled format to an on-demand release format while keeping the actual content the same.

The scheduled format closely resembled a traditional university course, with some of the study material available at the beginning of each week for four weeks. In the on-demand format, all four weeks of content was made available upon registration. All users could take the course for free or opt into paying for a completion certificate, either as a one-time fee in the scheduled format or a monthly subscription in the on-demand format.

More users, less engagement

The study's findings show that the switch to on-demand content doubled the percentage of paying users from 14% to 28%. Lu explains that "the on-demand format was successful in increasing short-term firm revenue by bringing in more paying users. On the downside, the switch resulted in significantly lower lecture completion rates and lower quiz performance."

The on-demand format also negatively impacted downstream platform engagement. The marketing course was promoted in a "Business Foundations" set with three other courses on operations, accounting, and finance.

"Compared to users in the scheduled format, those in the on-demand format ended up taking one or two fewer additional courses six months after the focal marketing course," says Bradlow.

Analysis of user activity reveals two new learning patterns:

• A subset (13%) of users in the on-demand format continued to return and take quizzes well beyond the recommended four-week course period. The greater flexibility in the on-demand content release and payment structure likely enabled these users to "stretch out" their consumption.
• The on-demand format increased the practice of binging—with user activity being clumped together (i.e., more binging) as compared to being evenly spaced out (i.e., less binging). In the scheduled format, binging was negatively related to course performance, which is consistent with the intuition that binging reflects procrastination or cramming. However, in the on-demand format, binging was positively related to performance, suggesting that on-demand users may binge as a form of strategic time management by setting aside time to consume in spurts.

Real-world implications

This study offers vital lessons for chief marketing officers in the online education space:

• The switch to the on-demand format attracted a set of users who were more likely to pay, but were less engaged in the course. On-demand content is potentially helpful at bringing in a new user segment or expanding the current user base, similar to universities offering concurrent hybrid MBAs that cater to busy students with full-time jobs. Managers must consider the trade-off between offering structure versus flexibility and may even consider offering different content release options simultaneously but at different price points by emphasizing their unique features.
• Platforms may need to adapt their content to account for users who binge on content and others who space it out over time. For example, firms can include more recaps or reviews to reduce frustration resulting from users forgetting content. It may even be a viable strategy to embrace the prevalence of binging among users by highlighting or designing sets of lectures that are "bingeable" versus more modular.
• Many online platforms offer episodic content that may be released in installments and thus need to make decisions regarding the content release format.

"Our study provides insights that help managers anticipate the potential consequences of such decisions," says Hutchinson. "On-demand content offers clear short-term benefits in terms of increased revenue but potentially long-term costs in terms of decreased engagement and new challenges in maintaining user engagement."

Journal information: Journal of Marketing

Provided by American Marketing Association

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IEELM-DTE 2020 Informatization of Education and E-learning Methodology: Digital Technologies in Education

Proceedings of the 4th international conference on informatization of education and e-learning methodology: digital technologies in education (ieelm-dte 2020) none -->, krasnoyarsk, russia, october 6-9, 2020 ., mikhail noskov * alexei semenov ** sergey grigoriev ***, table of contents, digital transformation in education.

• Digital Transformation of School and the Role of Mathematics and Informatics within It Problems and Paradoxes of Mathematics Education and their Digital Solution 1-8 Alexei Semenov , Sergei Polikarpov
• Teaching in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Transition to Education 4.0 9-15 Vadim Grinshkun , Elizaveta Osipovskaya
• School Digital Transformation Assessment: from Numerical Representation to a Qualitative Multi-dimensional Analysis 16-27 Irina Dvoretskaya , Alexander Uvarov
• Complex Network Models Used to Make Decisions on Optimizing Regional Education Systems 28-33 Sergey Karakozov , Maria Litvinenko , Natalia Ryzhova , Natalya Koroleva , Ksenia Smotryaeva
• Learners as Extended Minds of the Digital Age 34-39 Alexei Semenov , Vladimir Kondratiev
• Self-Assessment of Educational Results in Students who Prefer Computers, Laptops or Smartphones as Educational Tools for Distance Learning (in the Situation of Forced Transition to Distance Learning due to the COVID-19 Pandemic) 40-48 Anastasia Miklyaeva , Svetlana Bezgodova
• Modern Challenges of Humanity and the Search for a New Paradigm of Education 49-54 Igor Vostroknutov , Sergey Grigoriev , Lev Surot
• An Approach to E-learning in the Virtual Education Space 55-64 Stanimir Stoyanov , Todorka Glushkova

Digitalization in the Subject Area

• Adaptation of Educational Content when Learning Mathematics in Bilingual Condition 65-71 Julia Vainshtein , Mikhail Noskov , Victoria Shershneva , Mengy Tanzy
• Dynamic Adaptive Testing of Students in Learning English 72-78 Pavel D’yachuk , Igor Schadrin , Tatyana Shkerina , Irina Peregudova
• Planning, Building and Development Distributed Integrated Blended Education Ecosystem at Different Levels 79-86 Rustem Sabitov , Gulnara Smirnova , Shamil Sabitov , Natalya Elizarova , Ekaterina Korobkova
• Use of Active Demonstrations in General Physics Course at Colleges and Universities 87-95 Iosif Zeylikovich , Alexander Nikitin , Nikolai Matseskiy , Valentina Khilmanovich
• Digitalization of Mathematical Education and its Influence on the Formation of Stochastic Worldview through the Development of Probabilistic Thinking Style 96-102 Sergey Shcherbatykh , Kseniya Lykova
• Factors and Didactic Characteristics that Determine the Information and Educational Environment of the University 103-110 Natalia Brovka , Dmitry Medvedev
• Teaching of Discrete Mathematics Using the Dynamic Learning Environment 111-117 Natalya Mozhey
• On the Problem of Values Formation in the Context of Informatization of Mathematical Education 118-126 Hamlet Mikaelian

Digital Didactics

• The Influence Online Learning Quality Criteria Selection on Negentropy 127-139 Olga Andryushkova , Sergey Grigoriev
• Constructing Domain Model based on Logical and Epistemological Analysis 140-146 Julia Vainshtein , Roman Esin , Gennady Tsibulsky
• A Fuzzy-Possibility Approach to a Multi-Factor Comparison of the Efficiency of the Scales for Assessing the Competencies of the Examinee 147-156 Nelya Domshenko , Maria Morozova , Svetlana Rubtsova , Alexander Spesivtsev , Victor Lazarev
• Psychometrical Modeling of Components of Composite Constructs: Recycling Data Can Be Useful 157-171 Denis Federiakin , Elena Kardanova
• Intelligent Testing Systems Based on Adaptive Algorithms 172-186 Mykhailo Koliada , Tetyana Bugayova , Nina Miklashevich
• Qualimetric Approach to Dynamic Evaluation of Educational Activities According to Facet Classification of the English Language Tenses 187-195 Mikhail Noskov , Petr Dyachuk , Irina Peregudova , Oleg Denisenko
• Computer Testing as a Form of Students’ Knowledge Control 196-203 Dmitry Romanenko
• An Approach to Phishing Attacks Modeling for Network Gamified Educational Projects 204-209 Konstantin Safonov , Vyacheslav Zolotarev , Nikita Romme , Nikolay Parotkin , Ekaterina Maro
• Transformation of the Digital Transformation Tasks of Education 210-219 Boris Starichenko , Liubov Sardak
• Artificial Intelligence as an Instrument of Successful Pedagogical Monitoring and Affect Assessment for Disabled People Employment 220-227 Alena Khaperskaya , Mikhail Minin