American Economic Review Vol. 107 No. 9 2017

Virtual Classrooms: How Online College Courses Affect Student Success

Eric Bettinger¹; Lindsay Fox²; Susanna Loeb¹; Eric S. Taylor³

¹ Center for Education Policy Analysis, Stanford University, 520 Galvez Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 (email: ) · ² Mathematica Policy Research, 505 14th Street, Suite 800, Oakland, CA 94612 (email: ) · ³ Harvard University, Gutman Library 469, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138 (email: )

Abstract

Online college courses are a rapidly expanding feature of higher education, yet little research identifies their effects relative to traditional in-person classes. Using an instrumental variables approach, we find that taking a course online, instead of in-person, reduces student success and progress in college. Grades are lower both for the course taken online and in future courses. Students are less likely to remain enrolled at the university. These estimates are local average treatment effects for students with access to both online and in-person options; for other students, online classes may be the only option for accessing college-level courses.

DOI

10.1257/aer.20151193

Volume

107

Issue

9

Pages

2855-2875

Language

en

Sources

bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite

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