When it comes to online education, most Floridians believe they’re at odds with employers, according to new survey results from the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education.
While more than half of survey respondents felt a degree earned online is as valuable as a traditional college education, only 33 percent thought their employers would agree.
PIE Center researchers asked state residents for their opinions about public higher education in Florida as part of the 150th anniversary celebration of the Morrill Act, federal legislation that created the land-grant university system. The respondents,
523 Floridians ages 18 and older, weighed in on issues such as affordability, impacts on employment and personal experience.
The online survey was designed to give a demographically representative sample of Florida’s population, said Alexa Lamm, an assistant professor who oversaw the project.
Though online students are not part of a traditional classroom or campus environment, PIE Center Director Tracy Irani said Floridians in the survey did not believe attending college online would limit students’ social-skills development. Roughly half of respondents said online education would help students develop a personal code of values and improve their communities, as well as understand themselves and people with different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Responses were mixed, however, when it came to students working well with others. Thirty-two percent of respondents said an online education would hamper that skill, but 44 percent felt there would be a positive effect.
As for other professional skills, respondents said an online education would help students learn independently, communicate clearly and effectively and think critically.
Perhaps no surprise, 80 percent of Floridians surveyed said pursuing an online degree would boost students’ knowledge of computers and technology. Respondents believed strongly that online education programs successfully teach general knowledge, work-related skills and the ability to analyze and solve problems.
