College students shift to dorm learning

Many colleges throughout the country are shifting to online education, according to The New York Times.

In 2008, 4.6 million students took a college-level online course during their fall semester, according to the Sloan Survey of Online Learning. Jeff Seaman, the co-director of the survey, said that very few of the students enrolled in online courses attend private colleges.

The New York Times writes that online education has generally served older, non-traditional students who are unable to commute to campus because of jobs and family. But many public universities are embracing this shift in education because of declining state funds. They have too many students and not enough money to create more space for them.

Colleges and universities that have shifted to the online field aim to serve as many students as possible while remaining affordable, according to the New York Times.

Kaitlyn Hartsock, a senior psychology major at the University of Florida, who was assigned two online courses during her first semester of freshman year, is unhappy with the change.

“When I look back, I think it took away from my freshman year,” Hartsock said.  “My mom was really upset about it. She felt like she’s paying for me to go to college and not sit at home and watch through a computer.”

But Joe Glover, the University of Florida provost, supports this shift in education.

“We see this as the future of higher education,” said Glover.