Today, any time you visit a college campus, you will see only a fraction of the actual students enrolled in the school. At online colleges such as Kaplan University, the fraction of students studying on campus is exceedingly small.

At its numerous campuses, Kaplan has roughly 36,000 enrolled students. However, the numbers translate to approximately 6,000 on campus students and about 30,000 involved in online programming.

In Iowa, the for profit school operates campuses in Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, Council Bluffs, Des Moines and Mason City. Kaplan also operates campuses in both Lincoln and Omaha, Neb.

As part of its cyberspace growth, Kaplan recently acquired Quest Education, the corporate parent of Hamilton College. The school is Iowa's oldest continuously operating career college having first offered programming in 1900.

One of the critical components of online education is the computer training that courses provide. In today's technological world, computer savvy is critical. Students who study online ultimately develop technology skills that will help them be successful in the work world.