(AUSTIN) - The Texas State University System led the state in the percentage of fully online students before the COVID-19 outbreak, easing the transition to emergency online instruction last spring with thousands of high quality, remote learning opportunities for students across the state.
According to the most recent national data, nearly 17 percent of TSUS students were exclusively online--the highest percentage of any university system in Texas--driven by strong distance education operations at Lamar University and Sam Houston State University.
COVID-19 created an urgent and unprecedented demand for additional remote learning, and TSUS faculty and students responded by dramatically increasing the number of semester credit hours (SCH) taken online from 169,000 in 2018 to 482,000 in 2020.
TSUS’s experience and expertise in online instruction is outlined in the fourth annual TSUS Online Education Report, which was presented to the Board of Regents during its quarterly meeting this week.
The report highlights the need for higher education institutions to create a quality online experience for learners. According to the report, 87 percent of respondents in a national survey believe online learning will be part of the university experience in the post-COVID era.
Shared services agreements developed by TSUS, with leadership from SHSU Online, enhanced collaboration between TSUS member institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing faculty across Texas to access professional development training and other online teaching resources developed by TSUS experts. Since the outbreak, more than 3,500 faculty from across TSUS participated in webinars to improve their online teaching skills.
Founded in 1911, the Texas State University System consists of seven institutions, including Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, Sul Ross State University, Texas State University, Lamar Institute of Technology, Lamar State College Orange, and Lamar State College Port Arthur, serving more than 87,000 students.