The distance education, widely known as online learning, is originally designed to help students who may not be physically present at a campus.
However, now it used to refere a type of learning or a school category and a large number of colleges offere online learning opportunities.
Of the total 6,642 colleges and universities, 3,489 schools (52.53%) offer online undergraduate courses and 2,252 schools (33.91%) offer online undergraduate degree programs. For graduate schoos, 1,880 schools (28.30%) have online undergraduate courses and 1,553 schools (23.38%) offer online graduate degree programs.
Especially, there are 69 online colleges that offer all programs via online completely without on-campus duties. Some colleges have turned into online schools and a number of well-known colleges has created online divisions to provide online learning opportunities to their students.
Here, we compare the tuition & fees between the 69 online-completely colleges that all programs could be done through online exclusively. In general, the tuition & fees is lower than typical on-campus programs and the difference between in-state and out-of-state rate is not that great. The 2024 average undergraduate tuition of the online schools is $9,639 for state residents and $10,830 for out-of-state students. For graduate programs, 2024 tuition & fees is $11,247 for state residents and $10,991 for out-of-state students.
A total of 9,440 students enrolled in the online colleges and Western Governors University has the most online student of 156,935.
School Name | Undergraduate Tuition | Graduate Tuition | Number of Online Programs | Online Student Population | Offered Degrees | Parent Institute |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amridge University Private, four-years | $10,470 | $13,090 | 34 | 647 | Associate, Bachelor, Master, Doctoral | - |
United States Sports Academy Private, four-years | $18,900 | $19,440 | 10 | 240 | 1-Year Cert., Bachelor, Master | - |
Starr King School for the Ministry Private, four-years | Not Offered | $26,290 | 3 | 85 | Post-BS, Master | - |
Walden University Private, four-years | $12,498 | $10,657 | 134 | 42,312 | Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Post-MS, Doctoral | - |
Nazarene Bible College Private, four-years | $10,002 | Not Offered | 9 | 566 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor | - |
Charter Oak State College Public, four-years | $8,506 ($8,254) | $10,352 ($10,104) |
39 | 1,602 | 1-Year Cert., 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | - |
Rensselaer at Hartford Private, four-years | Not Offered | - | 13 | 115 | Post-BS, Master | - |
Ashford University Private, four-years | $13,160 | $13,515 | 90 | 34,190 | Associate, Bachelor, Master, Doctoral | - |
Frontier Nursing University Private, four-years | Not Offered | $18,500 | 9 | 2,335 | Master, Post-MS | - |
Lexington Theological Seminary Private, four-years | Not Offered | $9,420 | 5 | 90 | Post-BS, Master, Post-MS | - |
Excelsior University Private, four-years | - | - | 103 | 15,833 | Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Post-MS | - |
Heritage Bible College Private, four-years | $8,688 | Not Offered | 2 | 26 | Associate, Bachelor | - |
National American University-Rapid City Private, four-years | $16,065 | $16,425 | 93 | 1,151 | 1-Year Cert., 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Doctoral | - |
Bryan University Private, four-years | $15,868 | $14,420 | 14 | 135 | 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Master | - |
Capella University Private, four-years | $14,436 | $15,066 | 226 | 39,727 | 1-Year Cert., 2-Years Cert., Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Post-MS, Doctoral | - |
Western Governors University Private, four-years | $8,300 | $8,856 | 68 | 156,935 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Post-MS | - |
University of Arkansas Grantham Public, four-years | $8,280 | $4,800 | 61 | 5,436 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | - |
American College of Healthcare Sciences Private, four-years | $12,656 | $13,466 | 12 | 987 | 1-Year Cert., 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | - |
American InterContinental University Private, four-years | $12,310 | $12,169 | 47 | 14,333 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Doctoral | - |
American Public University System Private, four-years | $8,400 | $8,160 | 192 | 48,668 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Doctoral | - |
American College of Education Private, four-years | $6,240 | $6,600 | 65 | 10,003 | 1-Year Cert., Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Post-MS, Doctoral | - |
Columbia Southern University Private, four-years | $5,808 | $3,820 | 54 | 15,948 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Doctoral | - |
Ottawa University-Online Private, four-years | $13,296 | $13,002 | 31 | 224 | Bachelor, Master, Post-MS, Doctoral | Ottawa University-Ottawa |
Taft University System Private, four-years | $4,320 | $5,590 | 10 | 526 | Bachelor, Master, Doctoral | - |
City Vision University Private, four-years | $6,400 | $6,400 | 14 | 182 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | - |
Johnson & Wales University-Online Private, four-years | $13,365 | $15,156 | 74 | 2,504 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Doctoral | Johnson & Wales University-Providence |
National Paralegal College Private, four-years | $7,995 | $6,045 | 7 | 486 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Master | - |
Los Angeles Pacific University Private, four-years | $11,976 | $11,880 | 19 | 1,895 | 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Master | - |
South University-Savannah Online Private, four-years | $16,546 | $16,536 | 34 | 7,707 | Associate, Bachelor, Master, Post-MS, Doctoral | - |
Catholic Distance University Private, four-years | $9,600 | $9,900 | 6 | 168 | 1-Year Cert., 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | - |
Sessions College for Professional Design Private, four-years | $12,440 | Not Offered | 15 | 308 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor | - |
Colorado State University Global Public, four-years | $8,400 | $9,000 | 37 | 9,565 | 1-Year Cert., Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | Colorado State University-Fort Collins |
Pennsylvania State University-World Campus Public, four-years | $15,204 ($15,054) | $24,406 ($24,164) |
158 | 13,812 | 1-Year Cert., 2-Years Cert., Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus |
Bryant & Stratton College-Online Private, four-years | $15,891 | Not Offered | 36 | 9,050 | 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor | Bryant & Stratton College-Buffalo |
Florida Institute of Technology-Online Private, four-years | $12,240 | $16,128 | 35 | 1,230 | Associate, Bachelor, Master | Florida Institute of Technology |
Midwives College of Utah Private, four-years | $8,256 | $8,256 | 3 | 282 | Associate, Bachelor, Master | - |
Future Generations University Private, four-years | Not Offered | $9,600 | 1 | 42 | Master | - |
Veritas Baptist College Private, four-years | $8,992 | $7,452 | 10 | 182 | 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | - |
Arizona State University Digital Immersion Public, four-years | $13,625 ($11,421) | $10,573 ($10,372) |
189 | 62,551 | 1-Year Cert., Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Post-MS, Doctoral | - |
University of Florida-Online Public, four-years | $16,579 ($3,876) | Not Offered | 24 | 5,356 | Associate, Bachelor | University of Florida |
Lionel University Private, four-years | $15,288 | Not Offered | 3 | 510 | 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor | - |
California Intercontinental University Private, four-years | $9,054 | $10,674 | 29 | 506 | Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Doctoral | - |
Abraham Lincoln University Private, four-years | $10,440 | $6,840 | 19 | 177 | 1-Year Cert., 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master, Doctoral | - |
Huntington University of Health Sciences Private, four-years | $8,242 | $9,160 | 5 | 71 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Master, Doctoral | - |
Claremont Lincoln University Private, four-years | $6,000 | $13,825 | 11 | 220 | Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | - |
University of the People Private, four-years | $1,200 | - | 12 | 34,192 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Master | - |
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Flex Public, four-years | $6,750 | Not Offered | 6 | 612 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor | - |
University of Wisconsin-Parkside Flex Public, four-years | $6,750 | Not Offered | 2 | 146 | 1-Year Cert., Bachelor | - |
Institute of Lutheran Theology Private, four-years | $10,560 | $8,710 | 13 | - | 2-Years Cert., Associate, 2-4 Years Cert., Bachelor, Master, Doctoral | - |
Pathways College Private, four-years | $6,180 | Not Offered | 2 | 9 | 1-Year Cert., Bachelor | - |
Lakewood University Private, four-years | $10,479 | $12,879 | 33 | 169 | 1-Year Cert., 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | - |
Abilene Christian University-Undergraduate Online Private, four-years | $14,520 | Not Offered | 15 | 766 | Bachelor | Abilene Christian University |
NationsUniversity Private, four-years | $1,800 | $1,800 | 6 | 1,182 | 1-Year Cert., Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | - |
University of Silicon Andhra Private, four-years | $27,000 | - | 15 | 228 | 1-Year Cert., Master | - |
Bridges Christian College Private, four-years | $6,600 | Not Offered | 3 | 61 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor | - |
Reach University Private, four-years | $12,374 | - | 7 | 896 | Bachelor, Post-BS, Master | - |
Florida Baptist University Private, four-years | $10,000 | - | 0 | 0 | 2-Years Cert., Associate, Bachelor, Master, Doctoral | - |
Evangel University-College of Online Learning Private, four-years | $8,025 | Not Offered | 8 | 240 | 1-Year Cert., Associate, Bachelor | - |
Pathways College-Arizona Private, four-years | $7,056 | Not Offered | 2 | 6 | 1-Year Cert., Bachelor | - |
Pontifex University Private, four-years | Not Offered | $3,775 | 6 | 111 | Master, Doctoral | - |