Growth in online learning helps set another summer enrollment record

Senior chemical engineering major James Williams studies in the Hach Hall lounge between his two classes Tuesday afternoon. Photo by Christopher Gannon.

Iowa State has set a new summer enrollment record, 12,060 students, surpassing last summer's record by 118 students. Undergraduate enrollment is up about 3.5 percent (278 students) over last summer, with graduate enrollment down about 5 percent (175 students). The colleges of Engineering and Business showed overall growth of 203 students (6 percent) and 91 students (8 percent), respectively.

The census day for summer enrollment is the 10th day of the second session, though the count reflects all registration through that day and includes classes that concluded prior to it.

Summer enrollment by college

Online learning is still climbing

The 3,876 students who enrolled only in online courses make up nearly one-third of all summer school students this year. The group's size increased about 15 percent -- a net 488 students -- over last summer's group of online-only learners.

The university offered 26 more course sections at the undergraduate level this summer over last. The College of Business added 10 course sections (from 1 to 11); the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences added 15 (from 91 to 106). But online enrollment growth also is achieved by adding the teaching assistant positions necessary to support more online learners, said Mark Woolley, program director for Engineering-LAS Online Learning.

The Business college offered six 200- and 300-level core courses online this summer from five departments: accounting, marketing, management, management information systems and supply chain management. Most of them previously were offered on campus in the summer. Associate dean Scott Grawe said the college's "Learn While You Earn" campaign was a strategic decision to allow students to continue earning credits while working in internships or living away from campus and to help them stay on track for graduation. It also served to shift some demand for popular courses away from a "capacity crunch that we see in the fall and spring semesters," he said.

Overall, enrollment in those courses is up from last year, he said. College leaders also received feedback from students that will be helpful in marketing its summer course offerings next year, he said.

LAS dean Beate Schmittmann noted the college is in year two of its Discover Summer Online (DSO) promotion. She said the intent is to keep the DSO lineup consistent so students across the university can build those courses into their four-year plans.

The courses selected for DSO, she said, are those "with high enrollments, are required for many majors across ISU or are popular electives to meet the U.S. diversity and international perspectives requirements."

The LAS college also is testing a new promotion this summer, Discover Your Minor Online, and that also has driven the college enrollment increases, Woolley said. The promotion focuses on five minors: leadership studies, criminal justice studies, political science, women's studies and sociology.

"Students may not realize they're a class or two from earning a minor, and we thought summer might be a good time for them to get those courses in," Woolley said.

Enrollment in online courses tied to those minors is up nearly 20 percent over last summer, he said.

Top 10: Summer courses with highest enrollments

Seven of the top 10 courses included at least one online section. Two more in the group, History of Iowa (No. 8) and Introduction to Women's Studies (No. 10), were offered exclusively online.