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+89 Mind-Blowing Online Learning Statistics in 2024 and Beyond (Future Of Education)

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With the help of Learning Management System (LMS) and online learning software, traditional classroom have evolved to offer hybrid learning to full online learning.

This education revolution have impacted everyone including the learners, coaches, edupreneurs and course creators in how we learn and how we teach.

Let’s take a look at the statistics related to online learning, and take a look at the future of education industry.

PS. I’ve verified the source on the different research and studies by reputable institutions and organizations and have spend 20+ hours to compiled this massive list of e-learning statistics. Sticking to our editorial guidelines, we’ve listed down the data which is the most accurate, reliable and up-to-date, while linked each statistics with the source where it is found. So feel free to refer to the data and insights we have for this emerging trend on online learning.

Online Learning Trends in 2024 and Beyond (Top Picks)

1. Top 10 countries with most online learners are The United States, India, Mexico, Brazil, China, Canada, Russia, UK, Colombia and Egypt. (Source: World Economic Forum)

Online Learners By Countries

2. Main reason why E-Learning is gaining in popularity are (Source: The University of Nebraska and Online College Student)

  • 87% prefer e-learning because of convenience and flexibility
  • 85% (17 out of 20 students) feel that online learning is as good as or better than in-person class.

3. Top 10 countries with highest online learners growth are Paraguay, Lebanon, Philippines, Guyana, Indonesia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Vietnam and Kazakhstan. (Source: World Economic Forum)

image 6
Source: Countries By Learners Growth

4. The global e-learning market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20% between 2022 and 2028. (Source: Global Market Insight)

5. The global e-learning market size is projected to reach $325 billion by 2025 and grow to $848.12 billion by 2030. (Source: ResearchAndMarkets.com & FnFResearch)

6. The market for artificial intelligence (AI) in education is projected to reach $30 billion by 2032. (Source: PR Newswire)

Insight on Top Statistics and Trends

Online learning is increasingly getting more popular but it will take some time before it can replace traditional learning in a campus environment. 

However, with the exponential grow in educational institution offering online classes to their students, a major change in the education sector is coming and it is unavoidable.

Incorporating digital learning tools into traditional classroom have become a norm and it will continue to evolve as time passes. While the mode of learning have evolved, the need of learning will not.

With the introduction of AI, online learning will personalized to each and every learners, making the process of learning even more effective.

Growth of Global Online Learning Industry Statistics and Trends

1. 300% increase in the number of students that choose to take online classes from 2012 to 2016. (Source: Babson Survey Research Group)

2. 438% increase in the number of student registering for online study and 727% increase in the number of course enrolled from 2016 to 2021. (Source: World Economic Forum)

3. The online education industry is expected to grow 20% every year for the next 5 to 10 years. (Source: Global Market Insight)

4. In 2023, the global online learning platform such as LearnWorlds and ThinkiFic are projected to reach $57.42 billion, and it is projected to grow to $65.17 billion by 2027. (Source: Statista)

5. In 2028, the global online language learning market will be valued at $40.22 billion, with a CAGR of 10.6%. (Source: PRNewswire)

6. Since the online education movement, there were over 180 million enrollments in massive open online courses (MOOCs) alone. (Source: Class Central)

7. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of online learning, with a 1500% increase in demand for edX courses during the pandemic. (Source: CNBC)

438 percent growth in students registering for online study and 727 percent growth on the number of course enrolled

Insight on The Growth of Global Online Learning Market

Driven by technological advancement and the change in the labor market, online learning has been growing at a rapid pace over the past decade. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend, more online learning program will be offered in the next decade as online educational becoming increasingly popular amount the younger generations and working professionals.

More institutions will be shifting to choose online teaching as their primary way to teach classes, and students online.

Demographic Breakdown of Online Learners

1. 57% of students enrolled for undergraduate online studies are single. (Source: Class and Careers)

2. 40% of students enrolled for graduate online studies are single. (Source: Class and Careers)

3. 54% of online students work part time while pursuing their further education. (Source: Best College)

4. 68% of online students are experienced working professionals pursuing their further education or looking for a career switch. (Source: Best College)

5. 76% of global online learners are aged 25-34. (Source: Phu et al., 2014

6. Average age of student who study high education online is 32 years old. (Source: US News)

Age RangeTotalUndergraduate StudentsGraduate Students
18-2420%21%17%
25-2916%16%16%
30-3420%20%20%
35-3919%19%21%
40-4417%15%18%
45-498%7%8%
50-540%0%0%
55+2%2%2%
Age range of student doing higher education online studies (Source: Education Dynamics)

7. Online students for undergraduate studies 75% female and 25% male, with women as the majority of the online learners by 3 times. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics

8. Online students for Graduate studies are 64% female and 36% male, with women as the majority of the online learners by over 78%. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics)

Male vs Female student studing online for undergraduate and Graduate studies

Insight on The Demographic Breakdown of eLearning Statistics

Online learning experience have improved over the past decade and distance learning are getting offered to online learners of different age. 

The main bulk of students are working professionals looking to upskill or seeking a switch in their career. The flexibility of online courses makes it particularly attractive compared to traditional education.

Online Learning Enrollment Statistics, A Comparative Look

1. Before the pandemic in 2020, there were over 19.7 million students enrolled in online courses in the US. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics)

2. During Covid-19 pandemic, 35.4% of all college students took at least one online course. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics)

3. Over 50% of all online courses are offered by public institutions. (Source: Babson Survey Research Group)

4. 170% increase in online students enrollment between 2021 and 2022 due to the effect of the pandemic. (Source: NDTV)

5. Today, 49% of undergraduate students took at least one online course. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics)

6. 33.5% of all higher education students in the US took at least one online course. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics)

7. Affordability is the main factor that lead to which school to enroll for studies. (Source: Wiley Education Service Report)

8. 48.02% of participants actually entered the course material after registering. This aligns with the known trend of high initial registration attrition. (Source: ResearchGate)

Factors Affecting Study DecisionsPercentage
Affordability51%
Reputation of the school/program36%
The school awarded academic credit for my work/life experience29%
Offered quickest path to a degree28%
I can take both online and on-campus courses during my program27%
Proximity to where I live or work22%
Quality of faculty21%
Had favorable admissions requirements15%
Recommendation of people I respect15%
The school’s mission/values align with my values14%
Familiarity with the school13%
Positive interactions with staff during my search process12%
My employer had a relationship with the school11%
Alumni achievements4%
Something else2%
List of factors affecting decision on which school to enroll for online program (Source: Wiley Education Service Report)

Insight on Online Learning Enrollment Statistics and Online Learning Trends

Online courses are being offered by a wide range of institutions, ranging from community colleges to Ivy League universities such as Harvard and Yale. Online college-level education have become more easily available and the range of online learning course offers are increasing every year.

With the increase in the number of learning opportunities, education enrollment into online college or institutes that offer college-level education will increased rapidly over the years.

Online Course Completion Rates

1. 5% to 15% is the overall average course completion rate for online learners taking online course. (Source: wixstatic)

2. 3.13% to 5.91% is the average online course completion rates range for general online courses learners. (Source: ResearchGate)

3. 11.51% to 17.74% is the average course completion rate range for learners who state they will be completing the online course during a 5 years study. (Source: ResearchGate)

4. 44.23% to 56.43% is the range of average course completion rate for learners paying for their online course during a 5 years study. (Source: ResearchGate)

5. 3% to 6% is the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) average online course completion rate. (Source: Rresearchgate)

6. 85% average course completion rate for cohort-based programs, which is the highest when compared to other form of online course programs. (Source: edsurge)

Insight on Online Learning Completion Rate

Online courses have a much lower completion rates than traditional learning, but the completion rates can be improved and it varies greatly between free course, paid course and cohort-based programs.

Online Course Retention Rates

1. 10% is the average retention rate, most learners do not return after first year of taking the course, calculating to about 90% dropout rate for online course. (Source: ResearchGate)

2. 25.59% of active learners, “explorers” (learners who viewed over half the course content) dropout halfway through the course. (Source: ResearchGate)

Insight on Online Learning Retention Rate

Online learning have a low retention rate where only 1 in 10 continue return to the course within the first year. The retention rate greatly decreases as time goes. Even 1 in 4 active learners dropout halfway through the online learning process.

Raising Trends of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)

1. As of 2022, there are over 12,000 MOOCs available worldwide. (Source: Class Central)

2. The number of MOOCs has been growing rapidly, with a 50% increase in the number of courses offered from 2020 to 2021. (Source: World Economic Forum)

3. The most popular MOOC of all time is “Learning How to Learn” offered by the University of California, San Diego, which has had over 3.8 million enrollments since its launch in 2014. (Source: Class Central)

4. According to a study conducted in Colombia, the Philippines, and South Africa, the majority of MOOC learners are professionals looking to develop new skills or advance their careers. (Source: ICEF Monitor)

5. MOOCs are offered in a wide range of subjects, with the most popular topics being computer science, business and management, and social sciences. (Source: Class Central)

MOOC Statistics

1. Coursera, one of the largest MOOC providers, has over 113 million registered users as of 2023. (Source: Coursera)

2. Udemy a popular MOOC providers, has over 62 million registered users as of 2023. (Source: Udemy)

3. edX, another major MOOC provider, has over 49 million registered users as of 2023. (Source: edX)

4. SkillShare a growing MOOC providers, has over 2 million registered users as of 2023. (Source: SkillShare)

5. LinkedIn Learning reported having 875 million members with access to over +18,000 courses. (Source: BusinessofApps)

Online Course Platform Statistics

Teachable

  • More than 100,000 creators have used Teachable to create and sell courses.
  • Teachable creators have earned over $1 billion in total revenue.
  • Teachable has over 23 million registered students.

(Source: Teachable)

LearnWorlds

  • Over 7,500 course creators use LearnWorlds to create and sell courses.
  • LearnWorlds creators have earned over $100 million in total revenue.
  • LearnWorlds has over 1 million registered students.

(Source: LearnWorlds)

Podia

  • Podia has helped over 25,000 creators sell online courses, memberships, and digital downloads.
  • Podia creators have earned over $175 million in total revenue.

(Source URL: Podia)

Thinkific

  • Over 50,000 course creators use Thinkific to create and sell courses.
  • Thinkific creators have earned over $650 million in total revenue.
  • Thinkific has over 100 million courses taken

(Source: Thinkific)

Kajabi

KAJABI - Online Course Platform
  • Over 50,000 entrepreneurs over 120 countries have used Kajabi to sell online courses, memberships, and digital products.
  • Kajabi users have earned over $4 billion in total revenue

(Source: Kajabi)

Mighty Networks

  • Mighty Networks has over 10,000 creators who use the platform to build online communities, courses, and memberships.
  • Mighty Networks creators have earned over $10.5 million in total revenue.

(Source URL: Zoom Info)

Online Course and Program Offerings Facts and Statistics

1. Business and management (26%) followed by Teaching and Education (20%) is the most popular field of study for online learners. (Source: Study)

2. More online students enroll to private for-profit institutions than students at public institutions or private nonprofit institutions. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics)

3. The majority of online courses are asynchronous, meaning students can complete coursework at their own pace, on their own schedule. (Source: EdScoop)

4. Students studying online in synchronous settings reported greater support of their basic psychological needs as well as greater overall satisfaction with the online learning compared to students in asynchronous settings. (Source: Sabine et al., 2021)

5. 68% prefer asynchronous learning over synchronous learning when learning online. (Source: Campus Technology)

6. 45% of the online students said viewing lectures at any time of day is the greatest advantages of studying online. (Source: The Higher Education)

7. 44% of the distant learning students said ability to study during pandemic is the greatest advantages of studying online. (Source: The Higher Education)

8. 34% of online students say that the ability to study at their own pace was the most important factor in choosing an online program. (Source: The Higher Education)

9. The number of global higher education institutions that offer online programs has grown by 11.3% over the past decade. (Source: Babson Survey Research Group)

10. Percentage of new online course offered by top online learning institute, Coursea, EdX and FutureLearn is 39%, 26% and 51% respectively. (Source: EdSurge)

11. 79% of colleges and universities in the US offered fully online degree programs. (Source: OnlineU)

12. 89% of Public US higher education institutions reported that they offered online courses or complete online programs. (Source: Pew Research Center)

13. 71% of Private US higher education institutions reported that they offered online class. (Source: Pew Research Center)

14. 70% choose a course that offers faster completion time for the online course, than to have a longer break or having a more spread out course. (Source: Campus Technology)

15. 65% will like to have a more flexibility in course change, than to have a “lock step” in the selected degree plan. (Source: Campus Technology)

16. 87% prefer multiple start dates than fewer start dates to choose form when learning online learning. (Source: Campus Technology)

17. 34% of remote learners agree that the recorded lectures should be available for all in-person lectures to allow for online learning. (Source: The Higher Education)

Insight on Online Course and Program Offerings Trends In The Future

Online education industry is making a massive transformation, courses and programs that was traditionally offered by major university are now being offered by many other platforms such as online course market place and individual course creators or online learning schools.

Amount all online course, vast majority of online are offered by only course marketplace such as SkillShare and Coursera, while many other online courses are offered by course creators who create the courses using online course platforms such as ThinkiFc and LearnWorlds.

More and more types of online course are being offered and this will continue to grow in years to come.

E-Learning Effectiveness Statistics And Studies

1. A study by Barry University found that online students had a slightly higher average GPA than on-campus students (3.04 vs. 2.94). (Source: Stephen et al., 2010)

2. 71.4% rate online education is more effective than face-to-face learning (Source: Babson Survey Research Group)

3. 41.7% of educators from large educational institution rate online learning as “superior” or “somewhat superior” to face-to-face instruction. (Source: Babson Survey Research Group)

4. Studies found that online students were more likely to withdraw from online course (23%) compared to traditionally taught face-to-face classes (18.4%). (Source: Athabasca University

5. Online courses have been found to have higher dropout rates by 10-20% compared to traditional classroom courses. (Source: Papia et al., 2016)

6. A review of over 1,000 studies found that online learning is generally just as effective as traditional classroom learning for both undergraduate and graduate students. (Source: U.S. Department of Education)

7. A meta-analysis of online learning studies found that students in online courses performed better than those in traditional classrooms. (Source: U.S. Department of Education)

Insight on E-Learning Effectiveness Compared To Traditional Learning

Compared to traditional learning, online learning has become comparatively just as effective if not more effective than having education in a traditional classroom setting. 

With the different learning management system available online learning can become personalized and tailored to individual students according to their ability, leading to a better learning outcome.

Cost and Affordability For Digital and Virtual Learning

1. The average cost of private online undergraduate degree program is $60,593, compared to $129,800 for a traditional on-campus degree program. (Source: Education Data)

2. The average cost of commuting to college for face-to-face classes is $1,360 per year. (Source: Education Data)

3. The average cost of food for students that need to attend face-to-face class spend $563 more per year than those who study online. (Source: Education Data)

4. 79% report that student debt for traditional education is cutting into their parents’ ability to save for their retirement. (Source: Nusrat et al., 2022)

5. 84% of graduates who have received Grants graduate with debt, comparing to 46% for non-grant recipients. (Source: Nusrat et al., 2022)

6. 65% (Two-thirds) of students would rather their university offered more online learning if it meant paying lower tuition fees. (Source: Nusrat et al., 2022)

65 percent will choose to study online if it is cheaper

7. Online study is at least 50% cheaper than on campus study for most university. (Source: Nusrat et al., 2022)

8. Students can save between $12 to $66 per credit hour by completing an online degree program instead of an on-campus degree program. (Source: EdSurge)

9. 93% of U.S. college students say tuition should be cut lowered if classes are offered online. (Source: CNBC)

10. 74% of online programs offered by universities charged the same tuition fee for online programs and on campus ones. (Source: Forbes)

11. In a survey, 49% of adults said that the cost of higher education was the biggest barrier to obtaining a degree. (Source: PR Newswire)

12. 67% of online students receive some form of financial aid to help pay for their education. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics)

Insight on The Impact Of Online Learning to Cost and Affordability Of Education

Biggest advantage of online learning is it’s affordability. Not only the online course or program is significantly cheaper than tradition learning, students get to save on the travelling cost as well as lodging expenses.

Lower education cost make college level education or professionals online training more accessible to lower income learners or learners with financial challenges.

While traditional education are getting more expensive each year allowing only those who are well to do the opportunity to get educated, online learning helps to balance out the disparity and enable more people including those who are less wealthy the opportunity to get educated.

Challenges and Opportunities Of Remote Learning

1. Lack of motivation is the biggest challenge faced by online learners. (Source: Deepak Pandit et al., 2021)

2. Online learners report higher levels of satisfaction with their education compared to traditional learners. (Source: LongShi et al., 2021)

3. Online education has the potential to reach underserved populations, including those in rural or remote areas. (Source: Nature)

4. One of the biggest opportunities in online learning is personalized and adaptive learning, which can reach smarter student learning outcomes. (Source: HongChao et al., 2019)

5. Online education can help reduce the cost of higher education for students. (Source: Journal of College Administration)

6. One of the biggest challenges in online learning is ensuring academic integrity and preventing cheating. (Source: Inside Higher Education)

7. The lack of student engagement is one of the biggest challenges in online education, with only 29% of online learners completing their courses. (Source: Deepak Pandit et al., 2021)

8. Online learning has the potential to bridge the skills gap, with 64% of employers saying that online credentials are viewed highly coming close to those earned in traditional classroom settings. (Source: Harvard Business Review)

9. Online learning has the potential to improve access to education, with 74% of online learners stating that they have better access to courses online than in person. (Source: Escoffier)

10. The lack of face-to-face interaction is a significant challenge in online education, with 37% of online learners citing this as a barrier to their learning. (Source: Deepak Pandit et al., 2021)

11. Online learning has the potential to be more cost-effective than traditional education, with online courses costing an average of 3-50% less than in-person courses. (Source: EdSurge)

3-50 percent cheaper if studying online compared to studying face-to-face

12. Online students are more likely to drop out of courses than traditional students, with an average dropout rate of 10-20%. (Source: Steven et al., 2017)

13. Online students report higher levels of satisfaction with their courses than traditional students. (Source: Tianyuan et al., 2023)

14. The top benefits of online learning, as reported by students, are convenience and flexibility (87%) and the ability to work at their own pace (78%). (Source: Online College Student)

Insight on The Different Challenges and Opportunities Of The Raise of Remote Learning

E-Learning have many benefits such as lower cost, more range of choices and better flexibility. But, it does have it’s own set of challenges to overcome, such as higher likelihood of distractions. 

Online schools and institutes are increasingly investing in better learning and development tools, exploring new online platforms which offers more support and engagement to the online learners.

However, online learning presents many opportunities which overweigh the disadvantages of online learning. Statistics show the e-learning industry is rapidly growing and it is not going to slow down anytime soon.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on Online Learning

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Founder & Financial Writer at Income Buddies | Website | Posts by Author

Antony C. is a dividend investor with over 15+ years of investing experience. He’s also the book author of “Start Small, Dream Big“, certified PMP® holder and founder of IncomeBuddies.com (IB). At IB, he share his personal journey and expertise on growing passive income through dividend investing and building online business. Antony has been featured in global news outlet including Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq and Non Fiction Author Association (NFAA).

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