Mike Cronin
The Arizona Republic

Monica Sockwell stepped up to the lectern last month to deliver a commencement speech after two years of studying at Grand Canyon University.

She knew almost no one as she looked out at the students. Sockwell, 25, had obtained her master’s degree in special education online from her home in Philadelphia. She had been to Grand Canyon’s Phoenix campus only once.

In the span of two years, Grand Canyon has transformed itself from a traditional university dominated by on-campus students and courses to a nationwide, virtual school where 70 percent of its roughly 9,200 students study online.

The transformation reflects a larger shift that is beginning to take off at established, brick-and-mortar colleges. Enrollment in online courses nationwide is rising 10 times as fast as traditional enrollment, the National Center for Education Statistics says.

The number of Arizona State University students expected to enroll in at least one online course will soar to 100,000 from 15,000 over the next five years. Students from New Hampshire and Iowa, and China, India and Mexico already are attending ASU full time by computer.

Northern Arizona University offers 15 undergraduate and 10 graduate programs online and is developing more. NAU officials foresee an online enrollment of 30,000 in five years, with an offering of about 700 courses. University of Arizona students can earn a master’s in three areas and a doctorate in nursing. Administrators are exploring offering minors online but not purely Web-based bachelor’s degrees.

The online-learning surge is being driven by several factors, including the spread of high-speed Internet and colleges’ pursuit of an increasingly lucrative market.
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