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Online enrollment is on the rise at Kent State University. An increasing number of students at both the main and regional campuses signed up to take one or more online class this semester.

Deborah Huntsman, Associate Vice President of Continuing and Distance Education, says that the flexibility of online classes for the students and faculty is making them more beneficial for all. Huntsman said that as of right now there are about 700 unique online programs offered each semester.

More than 16,000 students are registered for online classes this fall. According to the online course enrollment data on Kent State’s website, this is an 8.9 percent increase from the little over 15,000 students last year.

Huntsman said today’s online courses are more student-centered and take advantage of new education technology. Learning management systems, like Blackboard, help the students stay in direct contact with their instructors, as well as help them access video and audio interactions.

Kent State offers full online degree completion for certain undergraduate and graduate programs, like public health and insurance studies. Huntsman said a large part of the growth in online courses is due to these full online programs. Over the next few years, Kent State is planning to launch nine of these new programs.

For broadcast beat reporting, I’m Paige Katrinchak.