Online Education has Transformed the University of Illinois at Springfield

The University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) offers 8 baccalaureate degree completion programs, 9 masters degrees, and 8 post-baccalaureate certificate programs in a fully online format. UIS also offers 3 masters degrees in a blended format (less than one-half the campus visits normally required).

A key feature of the online program at UIS is that online courses are taught on-load by the SAME faculty who teach on-campus; the online program is fully integrated with the campus.

The online enrollments have grown continuously since the initiative was started in 1998:

At census for the Spring 2011 semester:

• Online majors made up 27.6% of UIS headcount enrollment. (more than 1 in 4)
• At 1,357, the number of online majors increased by 67 from Fall 2010 (5.2%).
  
• 35.7% of credits were generated in online courses. (more than 1 in 3)
• 57.1% of UIS students took at least one course online. (more than half)
• 32.9% were registered only in online courses. (3 in 10)
• 40.2% of online majors have mailing addresses outside Illinois. (more than 1 out of 3)
• 85.1% of the Illinois students have mailing addresses outside Sangamon County. (more than 5 out of 6)
• The online majors are older than their on campus counterparts, by as much as 9 years on average at the undergraduate level, and by 3 years at the Masters level. The average age is 35.2 for online Masters students, and 33.9 for online undergraduate students.
• Students taking both online and on campus courses take heavier courseloads than either the completely online or on campus students, by about 4 hours at the graduate level.

The online program at UIS has received national recognition for quality.