Among all the findings in my 2024 online student research in RNL's Online Student Recruitment Report, my favorite - and perhaps the most important - finding is the fact that when recent or current online students are specifically asked to rate the quality of their online learning experience in comparison with past classroom experiences, the vast majority rate them as just as good - if not better.

More than 40 percent rated the quality of their online learning experience as better than past classroom experiences, while nearly the same proportion indicated that it was “about the same.” Those who gave a high rating were asked why they did so and a summary of their reasons appears in the report.

Current and recent online student ratings of the quality of online education in comparison with past classroom experiences.

At the highest level, high ratings were driven by their online programs meeting three core expectations, each of which was validated repeatedly throughout the survey questions (download the report to get all the data):

Address their concerns over engagement with their instructors (and to a lesser extent with their classmates)

Prior to enrolling, online students are most concerned about how they will engage with their instructors. They cannot quite envision how—without the use of Zoom or some other virtual meeting platform—they will have the type of interaction they need. Interestingly, nearly all the comments of those who rated their online experience as lower quality than past classroom focused on various aspects of insufficient or unsatisfactory engagement (while those who rated the experience higher often indicated that engagement was actually better than in the classroom).

Incorporate career preparation into both the curriculum and wrap around services.

Wherever we included an answer choice that was related to career preparation, respondents selected it as important or critical to their choice of program. It was the most frequent motivator to enroll, it was the second most important aspect in their program decision, and it was among the most important services they want to be able to access. But it was also of vital importance to both what they want in specific courses and what they want across the whole of their online learning experience. In short, institutions must first incorporate career preparation both into their messaging and positioning and then follow through to ensure that curriculum really does prepare students to advance and/or change careers.

Provide timely responses that are consistently personalized.

As with all of RNL’s research into both the graduate and online audiences over the last five years, this year’s online students reiterated not only that they expect quick responses to inquiries, subsequent questions, and admissions decisions. They expect responses within minutes or hours and an admissions decision within one week. When they institutions do not meet these expectations, they are likely to “take it personally” with nearly half saying that a slower than expected response implies that they are not important to the program or school. These expectations continue on elsewhere in the study to reflect similar expectations once enrolled. In fact among the small proportion who indicated that they were not satisfied with the quality of their recent online studies, the single largest reason was inconsistent or slow response to questions and concerns by instructors and other program facilitators.

This article is based on a blog I contributed to the RNL Blog in June 2024.