How the Education Department Wants to Police Online Education
Katherine Knott
July 30, 2024
The department says it needs more data about online education to hold those programs accountable. Institutions say the agency is overcorrecting.
The Education Department wants to collect much more information about distance education courses and the students enrolled in them as part of a broader effort to increase oversight of online programs.
The department’s proposal would require colleges and universities to take attendance in distance education classes, which include those offered online or via correspondence. Institutions also would have to provide more information to the agency about those classes’ enrollment. Additionally, the department proposes to end any asynchronous options for students in online clock-hour programs, which are typically workforce training programs that lead to a certificate.
The proposed changes worry some higher education groups, which say they could hamper innovation, unfairly target online classes and limit access for students who could benefit from the flexibility that online education provides. The department and advocates say the new regulations are needed to ensure oversight of online education—which increased during and following the pandemic—and track the outcomes of students in those programs. In the 2022–23 academic year, about 53 percent of U.S. students enrolled in at least one online course.
