Student Learning in Online College Programs / Stephanie Riegg Cellini, Hernando Grueso.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cellini, Stephanie Riegg.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Grueso, Hernando.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w28552.

NBER working paper series no. w28552

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2021.

Summary:

We draw on administrative data from the country of Colombia to assess differences in student learning in online and traditional on-campus college programs. The Colombian context is uniquely suited to study this topic, as students take a compulsory exit examination at the end of their studies. We can therefore directly compare performance on the exit exam for students in online and on-campus programs both across and within institutions, degrees, and majors. Using inverse probability weighting methods based on a rich set of background characteristics coupled with institution-degree-major fixed effects, our results suggest that bachelor's degree students in online programs perform worse on nearly all test score measures (including math, reading, writing, and English) relative to their counterparts in on-campus programs. Results for shorter technical certificates are more mixed. While online students perform significantly worse than on-campus students on exit exams in private institutions, they perform better in SENA--the main public vocational institution in the country.

Notes:

Print version record

March 2021.