The percentage of full-time instructional faculty and staff who teach distance education courses is greater at public institutions offering primarily associate’s degrees and certificates than at other types of institutions.

Distance education has become increasingly common in postsecondary education. In 2004–05, some 62 percent of public and private not-for-profit 2- and 4-year institutions offered distance education courses (defined as “an option for earning course credit at off-campus locations via cable television, internet, satellite classes, videotapes, correspondence courses, or other means”).¹ A greater proportion of public than private not-for-profit institutions offered distance education courses: in the public sector about 88 percent of 2-year and 86 percent of 4-year institutions offered these courses, compared with 12 percent of 2-year and 40 percent of 4-year institutions in the private not-for-profit sector

Although a majority of institutions offer distance education, a minority of instructional faculty and staff have taught these courses, defined in the faculty survey as “classes in which students and instructors are separated either primarily or exclusively by distance or time.” Eight percent of full-time and 6 percent of part-time instructional faculty and staff reported teaching a distance education course in fall 2003.

The percentage of instructional faculty and staff who taught distance education courses was related to their employment status (full- or part-time) and the type of institution in which they taught. A larger percentage of full-time instructional faculty and staff at public institutions offering primarily associate’s degrees and certificates taught a distance education course (18 percent), compared with their part-time counterparts at the same type of institution (6 percent) or either full- or part-time instructional faculty and staff at any other type of institution (3–8 percent).

Full-time instructional faculty and staff were more likely than their part-time counterparts to have taught a distance education course (8 vs. 6 percent; see table 47-1). Among full- and part-time instructional faculty and staff, those who did not teach distance education carried a lighter courseload than their peers who taught distance education. Instructional faculty and staff who did not teach a distance education course taught an average of two classes in fall 2003, compared with four classes taught by their peers with courseloads that included a distance education course.

¹U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), previously unpublished tabulation (February 2006). (back to text)