Parents’ Perception of Online College Degree Programs for their Children

 

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed the rapid increase in enrollments in online learning programs as an effective alternative to traditional school settings because of various advantages offered by such programs, including convenience, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. As a result, online college degree programs have received increased research attention in the field of education. This study examines parents’ attitudes toward online college degree programs and investigates whether there are any differences in their perceptions depending on the gender or age of their children. The study also considers the most important factors influencing parents’ perception of online college degree programs and analyzes any gender or age differences in the factors they emphasize. The results indicate that although parents generally had favorable attitudes toward online college degree programs regardless of the gender of their children, those with female students were more likely to support online programs than those with male children. In terms of the age of the child (measured based on the child’s level of education–elementary, middle, or high school), parents with middle school students were most likely to favor online college degree programs. Parents with female children were most likely to emphasize program quality as the most important factor, whereas those with male students, program credibility. Parents were most likely to emphasize program quality as the most important factor regardless of the age of the child. These results have important implications for school administrators, teachers, and policymakers, and some limitations of the study are discussed.

Keywords: Online Degree Program, Parents, Attitudes, Children

Kelly Sunho Park

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