Two separate entities back the assertion that enrollment in online degree programming continues its upward trend. The director of marketing for eLearningYellowPages.com, Carrie Sommers, states: "According to statistics, the number of students studying for degrees online has increased dramatically over the past several years."

In addition, a survey by the Sloan Consortium in 2005 reveals the changing educational landscape. According to the survey, sixty-three percent of schools offering undergraduate face-to-face courses now also offer undergraduate courses online. At the graduate level, forty-four percent of schools with Master's programs now also offer them online.

In conducting its study, the Sloan Consortium collected data from over 2,200 colleges and universities. From 2004 to 2005, the number of students taking at least one online course climbed from 2.3 million students to 3.2 million, an increase pushing 40 percent.

The online course growth is now well documented at the associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree level. Online course work is most prevalent in the popular employment areas of business, technology, health care and education.,