Online education: Florida is meeting its students where they are

Much has been written about the State University System’s “goal” to provide up to 40 percent of student coursework through online courses by 2025. The trouble with most of the coverage is that it misses the nuance of our efforts and incorrectly assumes we are going to force our students online — whether they like it or not. In hindsight, our “goal” might have been better described as a “projection.”

The Board of Governors arrived at its “goal” by considering a few important factors. First, we looked at past growth and student demand and calculated what it would look like if similar increases continued until the year 2025. Additionally, we considered that Florida is a growing state with an increasing student population. And finally, we took into account that online education creates access for students who have the desire to achieve a degree, but due to jobs, families and other commitments, would traditionally not be in a position to pursue one. As an example, Complete Florida, a 100 percent online initiative led by the University of West Florida, is designed specifically for the more than 2 million Floridians who previously started their post-secondary educations but did not complete their bachelor’s degrees.

By 2025, some students will take all of their courses online and some will take none at all. Most will take some combination, choosing the courses that provide them with the experience they want at the times that work around their schedules (our data show that students who take some online courses are more likely to graduate on time). Like any consumer, students will choose the offerings that best meet their needs.

Consider the parallels to the newspaper industry. Twenty years ago, most people read their news in print. But with the advent of new platforms, newspapers learned they could capture new, youthful audiences by meeting those potential customers where they are — which is on their phones or tablets. It would be a huge missed opportunity for newspapers to insist on maintaining only the print platform, just as it would be a mistake to try and force its traditional readers to go online. So newspapers serve both, and they try to use the unique qualities of each platform to provide the best possible experience.

Universities are doing the same thing. And like any business, we must anticipate the future demands of our students if we want Florida to remain competitive. To borrow a sports analogy, we are skating to where we believe the puck will be.

Like any business, we must anticipate the future demands of our students if we want Florida to remain competitive.

AP FILE