Alabama colleges count on Internet for future growth
Birmingham News – Dec. 22
…UA and other schools around the state are banking on telecommuting students like Chow to help them keep increasing enrollments even in tough economic times. This fall, UA President Robert Witt called online classes “very, very important” to the university’s growth strategy. “We anticipate that online course enrollments will continue to increase because as the job market tightens, people will be looking to position themselves for advancement,” said Rebecca Pow, associate dean for academic outreach at UA’s College of Continuing Studies. “They will want to return to school to enhance current skills or learn new skills.” UA offers five bachelor’s degrees, nine master’s degrees and one Ph.D. program entirely online, plus dozens of other courses. Online enrollment at the university has grown from 3,908 in 2006 to 6,038 this fall. Of those, 1,277 students this fall took no courses on campus, compared with 718 two years ago…