Your Discipline, Demographics and Course Preferences

Posted on July 19, 2007 by Jennifer Brady

Having just completed a marketing report for UMassOnline, I thought you might find some of the research outcomes interesting since they relate to who you are, what online programs initially interest you the most when seeking an online solution, and what the experts are saying these days is the number one quality for success as an online student.

You and your fellow online students here at UMassOnline represent an almost even balance between men (47%) and women (53%). Confirming an emerging trend, we discovered 38% of you are under 25 years of age. As expected, however, 59% of you range from 25 to 50 years old. A third of you live outside Massachusetts.

Here are the top ten online course areas of greatest interest to potential students evaluating UMassOnline through the first half of 2007:

Business Management tops the list, followed by Psychology, Education, Counseling, Accounting and Finance, Information Technology, Criminal Justice, Forensics, Sociology, and Writing. [This link will take you to an overview page on our website where you can see all the courses, certificates and degree programs we offer in these and other areas.] This is directly in line with market trends as the disciplines generating the most interest from prospective students (Online Higher Education Market Update, Part II Eduventures).

Lastly, what do you think most experts would say is the number one quality for success in an online student? The factor which was sited most often by academic leaders of every institutional size and type was that “Students need more discipline to succeed in online courses.” No other factor came close to this in the recent research. Since the vast majority of UMassOnline students succeed in their coursework, it stands to reason you’re a very disciplined group of people.