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How to Identify Successful Online Learners

The topic of retention continues to gain interest across the fields of higher education. One major issue to consider is determining whether students are ready for the challenge ahead. At one end of the retention spectrum are the highly competitive professional programs, such as medical and law schools, which are fueled by a very selective admissions processes wherein as many as 90% of the students who start will graduate. On the other end of the spectrum are part-time online programs whose admissions processes boil down to more of a qualification and whose graduation rates often dip into single digits.

Preliminary survey results from the National Dialog on Student Retention, academic preparedness is one major reason for students leaving programs. As discussed in an earlier column, program quality is another.

Online student retention rates are significantly lower than their on-campus equivalents. With record numbers of students studying online, it is imperative that we discover why online learners have a significantly lower rate of persistence than on-campus students. One recent estimate has 3.5 million students taking an online course. That translates to 20 percent of all students in U.S. higher education and, while these programs appeal to a growing number of students, we need to consider whether students are best served through this medium.

To discover what makes for a successful online student, we contacted eLearners.com has also created an external community to support current online students and has mobilized this community to help prospective online students.

the eLearners Advisor, a quick survey that asks you important questions related to earning an online degree. The answers are instantly reviewed to evaluate a student’s readiness for online education and provide a set of comprehensive results, including feedback and suggestions about how to become successful as an online student, access to helpful resources, and assistance in finding an online degree that meets students’ unique needs. According to Helen MacDermott, the Web Content Manager at eLearners.com, the survey mechanism has identified the following traits of a successful online learner:

• Computer Savvy - has at least basic computer literacy (i.e. all the competencies listed on http://www.elearnersadvisor.com/advisor/step3.asp)
• Owns a relatively new computer - has high-speed Internet service at home and has access to a computer that has high-speed Internet service at work
• Self-Starter - Is motivated to earn this degree because of internal rather than external influences
• Reliable - Has a predictable schedule
• Not over-committed - Has sufficient time for study (dependent on number of credits being taken)

Successful students are those:

• Who have a clear understanding of what it is he/she wants to accomplish and knows how earning a degree will help him/her achieve that goal.
• Whose employer offers tuition reimbursement as an employee benefit
• Who have thought about the short- and long-term financial impact of going back to school to earn a degree
• Whose family is willing (and able) to support his/her efforts to be a student?
• Who sees himself/herself as being in control of his/her future

eLearners.com has also published an eBook, the Guide to Online Education , available free of charge on their website.

Successful retention for online programs will depend on screening to determine if prospective students are better-suited for online or on-campus education. Online learners are generally more independent than their on-campus counterparts. These self-starters do not necessarily need the natural elements of engagement that are offered in traditional on-campus programs to succeed. Better-qualified starters will result in higher graduation rates. Once students begin an online program, monitoring and counseling systems can improve retention so long as institutions offer ease of movement from online to on-campus if students don’t properly engage in their online studies. If that flexibility is not possible, success will stem from improved screening of students at risk of failing, an identification process that can prove tremendously helpful so long as schools provide resources to help students deemed to be at risk of attrition.

Fostering student success to program completion is also good for the bottom line of the institution. If students are placed in programs outside their natural abilities, they will likely need more attention and resources to graduate. Effective screening, advising and monitoring is directly related to student success, and instruments like those offered at eLearners.com can help place the right students in the right programs to benefit both the individual students and the institution as a whole.

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Additional sections of this journal address student recruiting and student retention. We have also placed all articles with a common theme of Innovative Practices in Communicating with Students in a separate portal. New articles will be posted each Monday, please check back by bookmarking this site or placing a link to this online education and distance education programs portal.

Mark Shay is the founder of EDU - a leading academic advertising provider, - part of EducationDynamics, a leader in student lead generation and enrollment management services.