The Online Universities Weblog recently reported that on-line courses make up seven percent of the world's entire college student population. They expect that number to grow to 10 percent by 2008. If that proves to be correct, millions of students will be opting for an on-line education over a traditional campus (a/k/a brick-and-mortar) education within just a couple of years.

Why the growth?

• Many students find it easier to attend on-line schools due to their busy lifestyles. This is especially true for career changers and those who live in areas that have few and perhaps no nearby post-secondary institutions.
• On-line schools are often less expensive than traditional, campus schools.
  
• Federal law no longer requires colleges to offer at least half their courses face-to-face to receive federal student aid.
  
• A college degree is seen by many today as the equivalent of how a high school diploma was seen decades ago. Without one, your chances of finding fulfilling employment drop dramatically.
  
• Some of the schools are preparing for the upcoming boomlet. The largest high school graduating class in U.S. history is expected to be 2009, which is only three years away. Coupled with added pressures to graduate from college, one could reasonably ask where would all of these students go to college if it weren't for the availability of the on-line option?