Improving economy leads to lower enrollments at community colleges, report shows. Can online programs help stanch the flow?

Inside Higher Ed reports.

Study explores online learning trends at community colleges

Online courses have for years driven enrollment growth at community colleges, but as more students take their chances in the job market, institutions face new challenges to retain them, a new study found.

During the height of the recent recession, community colleges saw double-digit percentage growth in their online courses, according to the Instructional Technology Council, which is affiliated with the American Association of Community Colleges. But the ITC’s most recent survey of trends in online education at two-year colleges shows growth last academic year sat at 4.7 percent — the lowest in about a decade.