In Italy, online universities have more students than non-state universities

In Italy, 11% of university students are enrolled in an online university: more than those enrolled in non-state universities. In "traditional" universities, distance learning is not taking off

MILAN – Enrollments in online universities have surpassed those in non-state universities and represent 11% of the total number of university students in Italy. Not only that: almost all enrollments in distance courses are in online universities (with a weight of over 50% among students over 35), and the average age of students is decreasing, going from 37 in 2010 to average of 30 years in 2022. The data are from the second report of the Mheo, the Milan higher education observatory, promoted by the University of Milan in collaboration with Cineca, an inter-university consortium specialized in IT services, data collection and management, and by Deloitte. The objective of the investigation is to provide some keys to understanding the phenomenon of tertiary education in Milan, Lombardy and Italy. The reality of online universities, which has been growing since 2018, is one of the focal points analysed.

ONLINE UNIVERSITIES ARE GROWING, NOT DISTANCE TEACHING IN “TRADITIONAL” UNIVERSITIES

The presentation took place this morning in the Sala Napoleonica of the State University, in the presence of the rector Elio Franzini and the deputy mayor of Milan, Anna Scavuzzo. One of the innovations that emerged from the report is the growth of online universities in recent years. The data demonstrates this: in Italy, in the 2021-2022 academic year, those enrolled in telematics were 11% of the national total, thus exceeding non-state universities in number of students. Enrollments in three-year and single-cycle degree courses were 25,133 (7.58% of the national total) and 17,406 graduate career starts (11.64% of the national total).
“Do not consider teaching distance learning, for state and non-state universities, is a wasted opportunity – comments Matteo Turri, professor of Business Economics at the State University and scientific director of Mheo – because it leads to a lower capacity to attract students in a demographic context in which the the number of nineteen-year-olds is destined to decrease and a lack of attention to students with weaker educational backgrounds, coming from disadvantaged areas and unable to dedicate themselves full time to study”.

THE IDENTIKIT: ADULTS, THOSE WHO HAVE ABANDONED PREVIOUS STUDIES, THOSE WHO LEAVE “FRAGILE” HIGH SCHOOLS

The report also drew up an identikit of the students who attend online study courses: they are adults, mainly women, who seek a degree for professional reasons, students from state and non-state universities who were unable to finish in their study path takes precedence and nineteen-year-olds with a more fragile educational background.
“Among the main attractions of online universities there is certainly the possibility of reconciling work and study and avoiding traveling from home – adds Turri -. Although the data shows that there is a significant gap in terms of quality assurance and scientific production between ‘traditional’ and online universities”.