Students are more likely to succeed in in-person courses than in online or hybrid formats, recent survey results show. According to Greg Foster-Rice, associate provost for student success initiatives, the Student Voice Survey from fall 2024 and spring 2025 found students both preferred in-person classes and finished them at higher rates.

Foster-Rice said that while online courses may serve some students well, the survey indicates in-person classes remain both more popular and more successful, with higher completion rates.

“I’m sure there are use-case scenarios in which online courses are beneficial, but overall, students much prefer in-person classes, as stated preliminarily in the survey, and they have a higher rate of completion in those courses, making in-person classes more successful,” said Foster-Rice.

Last spring, the college offered 1,311 in-person courses, 99 online courses and 31 hybrid courses. Roughly 91% of courses were in-person. Online courses refer to both asynchronous and synchronous formats.

“Students seem to have greater completion rates in their in-person courses based on the simple metric of DFW rates,” Foster-Rice said, referring to the percentage of students earning a grade of D, F or withdrawing from the course.

Of the 21,932 students enrolled in in-person courses in spring 2025, 1,901 received a D or F or withdrew from a course, accounting for 8.7% of the total. Among the 2,349 students who took online courses, 227, or 9.7% received a D, F or withdrew from the course. For hybrid courses, 18 of the 414 students, or 4.3%, received a D, F or withdrew.

Analise Boelter, a first-year film and television major, is taking one online English course this semester and said she was initially nervous about the format.

“So far, it’s been pretty good,” Boelter said. “I appreciate the flexibility of it so I can do it whenever I want during the week.”

Boelter said she prefers hands-on learning for her major-related classes and taking those in person, but she sees benefits to both online and in-person formats.

Collin Campbell, a senior audio arts major, said he prefers taking in-person classes for courses related to his major but enjoys online courses for general education requirements.

“For a lot of the gen-ed’s and stuff that I’m just taking for credit, online tends to be a lot better,” Campbell said. “You can be multitasking and doing other things at the same time.”

Campbell also said his grades tend to slip in online courses.

“I think there’s less care put into my asynchronous classes because you don’t have that in-person connection, but it also comes down to what the class is and what you’re interested in,” Campbell said.

In fall 2024, 1,340 in-person courses were offered, along with 118 online courses and 75 hybrid courses. Similar patterns appeared compared to spring 2025, though online and hybrid courses saw slightly higher DFW rates. 

That semester, 2,128 of the 23,962 students enrolled in in-person courses, or 8.9%, received a D or F grade or withdrew. Among the 2,821 students who took online courses, 356, or 12.6%, received a D or F grade or withdrew. For hybrid courses, 143 of the 1,216 students, or 11.8%, received a D or F grade or withdrew, accounting for 11.8%.

Leslie Tuszynski, a senior film and television major who commutes to campus three days a week from Naperville, a suburb west of Chicago, said her grades in online classes tend to be better than in her in-person classes. Despite that, she said she still prefers in-person learning.

“I feel like the in-class environment, there’s no way to replicate that online,” Tuszynski said. “I personally prefer in-person, but there are classes like “Film History” where you can find videos on your own online. I appreciated the hybrid just having the freedom for it – but it really depends on the class.”

Copy edited by Mya DeJesus

Resumen En Espanol

Basado en resultados de encuestas recientes, se ha reportado que los estudiantes demuestran mejor resultados en las clases donde se reúnen en persona. Algunos cursos son ofrecidos virtualmente o asincrónicos, pero los más populares son las clases en persona. 

Esto es demostrado por la comparación de grados y el rango de completación.

El porcentaje de estudiantes que obtuvieron una D, F o se retiraron de una clase era menos en las clases en persona. 

Cerca de 91% de cursos eran en persona en el semestre de primavera 2025 y el número era similar en el Otoño 2024.

Editado por Brandon Anaya