Postsecondary Education

Programs and Courses

Table A-43-1. Number and percentage of undergraduate students in postsecondary institutions taking distance education courses, by selected characteristics: 2003-04 and 2007-08

Selected characteristic	2003–04					2007–08
	Taking any distance education courses		Taking their entire program through distance education			Taking any distance education courses		Taking their entire program through distance education
	Number of students (in thousands)	Percent of all students	Number of students (in thousands)	Percent of all students		Number of students (in thousands)	Percent of all students	Number of students (in thousands)	Percent of all students
Total	2,961	15.5	973	5.1		4,277	20.4	769	3.7
Sex
Male	1,099	13.6	365	4.5		1,679	18.6	297	3.3
Female	1,862	17.0	609	5.5		2,598	21.8	472	4.0

Race/ethnicity
White	1,944	16.2	630	5.3		2,803	21.7	489	3.8
Black	400	14.9	131	4.9		592	20.2	145	5.0
Hispanic	329	13.4	109	4.5		484	16.4	74	2.5
Asian	145	14.0	55	5.4		225	18.2	37	3.0
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	19	19.1	‡	7.2		27	17.7	‡	1.3	!
American Indian/Alaska Native	27	15.5	11	6.1		39	22.1	‡	2.0	!
Two or more races	64	16.5	21	5.3		99	20.1	15	3.0
Other and unknown	33	13.4	9	3.5		8	13.4	‡	4.7	!

Age
15 through 23	1,283	11.7	353	3.2		1,891	15.1	169	1.4
24 through 29	592	18.4	213	6.6		938	25.9	192	5.3
30 or older	1,086	22.4	408	8.4		1,448	30.1	408	8.5

Attendance status
Exclusively full-time	1,179	12.7	360	3.9		1,648	16.5	299	3.0
Exclusively part-time	1,251	18.7	470	7.0		1,839	24.8	373	5.0
Mixed full-time and part-time	531	17.3	143	4.7		791	22.3	97	2.7

Type of job student had
No job	533	12.4	158	3.7		708	16.1	121	2.8
Regular job only	2,282	17.2	768	5.8		3,259	22.3	607	4.2
Work-study/assistantship job only	60	8.8	18	2.6		112	12.9	13	1.5
Both regular job and work-study/ assistantship job	86	11.1	29	3.7		198	18.7	27	2.5

Student housing status
On-campus	194	7.2	48	1.8		263	8.9	13	0.5
Off-campus	1,851	17.7	634	6.1		2,709	24.0	606	5.4
With parents or relatives	604	13.2	171	3.7		854	17.1	83	1.7
Attended more than one institution	312	23.4	120	9.1		452	27.1	66	4.0

Dependency status
Dependent	1,064	11.1	291	3.0		1,589	14.3	108	1.0
Independent, no dependents, not married¹	454	15.6	152	5.2		788	24.0	155	4.7
Independent, no dependents, married	269	19.6	101	7.4		356	28.7	83	6.6
Independent, with dependents, not married¹	522	20.5	180	7.1		712	25.5	197	7.0
Independent, with dependents, married	653	25.1	251	9.6		833	33.0	227	9.0

Veteran status
Veteran	140	22.5	48	7.6		191	29.0	58	8.9
Not veteran	2,821	15.3	926	5.0		4,087	20.2	710	3.5

Field of study
Business/management	550	18.7	206	7.0		811	23.9	203	6.0
Computer science	177	19.4	65	7.2		190	27.1	56	8.0
Education	218	17.1	58	4.6		272	22.3	38	3.1
Engineering	96	12.1	26	3.3		166	15.8	24	2.3
Health	427	17.4	138	5.6		667	22.2	122	4.1
Humanities	276	14.0	76	3.9		620	19.5	77	2.4
Life sciences	81	11.0	20	2.8		174	15.5	20	1.8
Mathematics	12	12.7	‡	3.8	!	16	15.0	‡	‡
Physical sciences	12	10.1	‡	1.1	!	22	12.5	‡	0.3	!
Social/behavioral sciences	165	12.4	46	3.5		226	16.9	30	2.2
Vocational/technical	62	13.1	20	4.3		94	18.5	18	3.4
Undeclared/no major	622	15.0	233	5.6		605	20.6	101	3.4
Other	265	14.4	79	4.3		414	18.9	81	3.7

Control and level of institution
Public	2,373	16.2	723	4.9		3,423	21.5	436	2.7
4-year	823	13.5	245	4.0		1,210	18.1	146	2.2
2-year	1,540	18.2	475	5.6		2,206	24.2	288	3.2
Less-than-2-year	11	11.8	3	3.0		8	8.2	‡	2.2	!
Private not-for-profit	353	12.4	122	4.3		429	14.1	88	2.9
4-year	340	12.4	118	4.3		412	14.0	84	2.8
2-year	10	11.3	3	3.3		12	20.2	4	6.1
Less-than-2-year	4	17.3	1	6.8		5	16.3	‡	2.5
Private for-profit	235	15.3	128	8.4		425	21.3	245	12.3
4-year	155	26.2	91	15.4		301	29.7	193	19.0
2-year	52	12.1	26	6.1		97	18.0	44	8.3
Less-than-2-year	27	5.4	11	2.1		28	6.2	7	1.6

! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable because the standard error represents more than 30 percent of the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met.

¹Includes separated.

NOTE: Estimates pertain to all postsecondary students who enrolled at any time during the school year at an institution participating in Title IV programs. Distance education participation includes participation at any institution for students attending more than one institution during the school year. Data include Puerto Rico. Detail may not sum to totals because of survey item nonresponse and rounding. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. For more information on race/ethnicity, please see supplemental note 1. For more information on the classification of postsecondary education institutions, see supplemental note 8.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2003–04 and 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:04 and NPSAS:08).

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