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A Surge in Young Undergrads, Fully Online

Inside Higher Ed 

Susan D’Agostino
October 14, 2022
Tens of thousands of 18- to 24-year-olds are now enrolling at Western Governors, Southern New Hampshire and other national online institutions. Does this represent a change in student behavior?
When Ryan Weger was a high school student in Northern Virginia, he longed to attend Virginia Tech for college. But he changed his mind after his father returned to college in his late 30s and earned an online, competency-based bachelor’s degree at Western Governors University in a single year.
“He slammed it,” Weger said of his father’s accomplishment. Weger reconsidered his aspiration to attend Virginia Tech which, by his estimation, might have “required four years, left [him] $100,000 in debt, and with only one degree.” Besides, he noted, “I’m much better at reading the text myself instead of having somebody lecture at me for hours.”

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