A New Model of College Choice for Distance Learners

Abstract

The expansion and diversification of postsecondary education in the United States has led to greater options for students and prospective students for pursuing a college degree. With the roll out and scale up of sophisticated education technology systems, an important trend in higher education today is distance education. Despite the growing prevalence of distance learning opportunities and the expanding body of research on distance education, research on the college-going decisions of distance learners is sparse. As more students enroll in distance-based postsecondary education programs, it is increasingly important to understand how and why students make the decision to enroll in collegiate degree-granting programs. This study bridges the college choice and distance education literatures to posit a new model of college choice to shed light on students’ decisions to enroll in a distance-based, nontraditional degree program.