EducationCenterOnline.org Celebrates Holiday Season with Student Success Stories

Missouri City, TX (PRWeb) December 18, 2006 -- With Christmas and Chanukah looming, and the New Year just over the horizon, EducationCenterOnline.org announces the completion of yet another successful year in providing students from across the United States (and, indeed, in other locations around the globe) with access to premier online education , distance learning and campus based educational opportunities.



Since its 2004 inception, EducationCenterOnline.org has been a leader in providing people interested in advancing their education and in improving their lives, with 3,048 different education programs that are made available through online education, distance learning and campus based schools.

According to Sharon Odom, President of EducationCenterOnline.org, the comprehensive directory has provided assistance to millions of students during its time in operation. “I suppose on some level we never imagined how many students would use our services. We do know that EducationCenterOnline.org has been instrumental in assisting many, many people in finding the right education program for them, whether they want to obtain training through online education, distance learning options or even in a more traditional campus based setting. Whatever the situation and whatever the goal, EducationCenterOnline.org has been able to link up millions of people with just the right educational and degree program,” Odom said.

With the holiday season, the staff of EducationCenterOnline.org has assessed the services it has provided to students in the past and to consider where the online degree directory service would like to head in the future. “The holiday season is a perfect time for EducationCenterOnline.org to reflect on its mission,” Odom explained. “At Christmas and during Chanukah, I think we all naturally spend time reflecting on where life has taken us. And, of course, education is such an important, vital part of the lives of so many people in this day and age. New Years gives us yet a different opportunity … to look ahead to where we would like to go in the future.”

Recent research reports reveal that there has been explosive growth in the number of students enrolled in online education (as well as distance learning) programs during the past twelve-month period. According to a recent study commissioner by the venerable Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, in 2006 there were approximately 3.2 million students enrolled in at least one online course.

As mentioned, over 3 million students were participating in at least one online course in 2006. During the same time period, there were approximately 17 million students enrolled in degree programs in colleges and universities in the brick and mortar world. According to the Sloan report, what is even more startling is the increase in the number of students engaged in online education just over the most recent twelve-month period. Only one year ago, the aggregate number of students participating in at least one online course was 2.3 million.

“As a result of this explosive growth,” Odom remarked, “The demand for services such as those that we provide at EducationCenterOnline.org has grown exponentially … literally.”

The holiday season additionally provides a suitable backdrop to underscore the types of students that are seeking to advance their education through online education and distance learning options. “In many instances, studies such as the one funded by the Sloan Foundation reveal that the typical student involved in a course of online education or distance learning is what many would call a non-traditional student. These are people who have significant professional and family obligations. Online education and distance learning allows these men and women to commit to their work and home responsibilities and still obtain a degree that will allow them to advance at the same time,” Odom explained.

Looking onward into the New Year and beyond, a number of reports have considered the future of online education and distance learning programs. Without exception, these reports reveal that a growing majority of colleges and universities in the brick and mortar world are coming to understand that offering online degree options for their students will be critical to the future success of these various schools.

Some institutions of higher education already have made a substantial commitment to online education and distance learning options for their students. Most of the country’s largest colleges and universities already have implemented at least some online education and distance learning opportunities for their students in the past five years. “What is striking is that a majority of experts who have contrasted traditional on campus learning experiences with those of students studying through online education programs have determined that the learning outcomes through the online process are equal or superior to the outcomes found in more traditional, real world, on campus programs,” Odom said.

In the end, in the coming New Year, analysts agree that there will be another record breaking increase in the number of students enrolled in online degree programs as well as in the number of students who receive degrees through online education or distance learning programs.

Media Contact:
Sharon Odom
281-652-5671

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