Proctoring progress
Online education is becoming increasing popular among University of Missouri students, who find that online classes help them proceed through their degree plans efficiently. Forty-six percent of MU campus students took at least one online class in AY 16–17.
MU students in online classes take more than 20,000 exams each year at approved exam sites throughout the U.S. and around the world. For students on or near the MU campus, the Mizzou Online exam room is a convenient location to take proctored exams.
Mizzou Online recently expanded its testing services to accommodate growing enrollment in online classes. The new exam room, in the Heinkel Building at the corner of 7th and Locust streets, can seat 45 test takers at a time — double the capacity of the former location in Clark Hall.
Students can take computer- and paper-based exams in the new exam room. Individual keyed lockers, look-down desks and enhanced video monitoring provide better security for exam takers.
The new facility also has improved acoustics and climate control as well as more space, giving students a better exam-taking experience.
Even with expanded capacity, exam room reservations fill quickly during peak times. Instructors of online classes should remind students that they need to schedule their exams in a timely manner
Distance education tuition revenue at an all-time high
As the number of distance degree and certificate options has grown, so have the revenues generated for Mizzou. In FY 16-17, Mizzou Online generated an all-time high of $36.1M from online class tuition. These funds were subject to revenue share between academic units, the campus Budget Office and Mizzou Online. Mizzou Online is a self-sustaining, revenue-generating service unit.
Expanding online programs faster than our peers
Distance program offerings increased 46 percent over the past five years and several academic units are planning additional new online options for AY 18–19. With more than 100 degree and certificate options, MU ranks second among public AAU institutions in the number of distance programs offered and second among SEC institutions.
Investing in program development
Academic units seeking to move existing, approved degree programs to online formats can apply for program development funds from Mizzou Online. In FY 17, Mizzou Online dispersed $1,460,215 to academic units for online program expansion.
These funds resulted in the following new programs that already have launched or are getting ready to accept their first students:
- Academic Medicine, MS
- Business Administration, BS BA
- Data Science and Analytics, MS (Four emphasis areas including Biotechnology, Strategic Communications and Data Journalism, Human Centered Data and High Performance Computing)
- Economics, MA
- Hospitality Management, BS (expanded specialization areas)
- Math Ed, Ed Sp
- Special Education, General, MA
Expanding online options faster than peers
With such a focus on making Mizzou’s degree programs available to learners everywhere, Mizzou has grown its online footprint faster than many peer institutions, according to a 2017 EAB study. EAB conducted a gap analysis study for Mizzou Online, and when compared to 36 public, very high research peer institutions, Mizzou was found to have outpaced all other comparators in both revenue growth and expanded online offerings in the last five years. On average, seven new MU distance programs launch every year.
Learn more about moving your program online or the process of applying for program development funds by contacting Mizzou Online Program Coordination at mumzoncoordination@missouri.edu.
Fall 17 brings growth in distance student numbers
Fueled by new program offerings, as well as growth in existing programs, fall 17 distance student numbers are up by 4 percent over fall 16.
Fall 17 distance student snapshot: 2,564 distance students took 4,089 classes and generated 14,749 credit hours.
Number of students: Distance student head count grew by 4 percent when comparing fall 17 to fall 16. Undergraduate head count fell by 1.5 percent and graduate head count grew by 5.3 percent.