Nearly two-thirds of U.S. colleges and universities surveyed now offer online courses on the same levels as their face-to-face courses.

In the fall 2004 semester, 2.3 million students enrolled in at least one online course, and the rate of online enrollment is growing faster than overall higher education enrollment, according to the College Board and the Sloan Consortium.
 
 "Online learning is rapidly becoming a mainstream college experience,"  says Hal Higginbotham, president of Collegeboard.com.
 
 A majority of the chief academic officers surveyed for the study said they view online education as critical to their long-term strategy: It increases enrollment without the need to build additional classrooms,
 and it gives professors more flexibility.
 
 SOURCE: "Growing by Degrees: Online Education in the United States, 2005,"