As the Obama Administration readies a proposal to give millions to community colleges to provide free online courses, research conducted by the U.S Department of Education shows that online education may have advantages for students that were previously overlooked.  The proposed fund would provide $50 million per year for online courses in addition to roughly $9 billion over the next decade for other improvements to community colleges. 

While many have long assumed that online education programs are less effective than the traditional classroom, the new study showed that online education proved to be more effective than “face to face learning” in terms of preparations for tests and exams.  However the most successful form of education proved to be that of “blended education” which is a combination of face to face learning and online education.

More from Inside Higher Ed on plans for more free online courses
More from Inside Higher Ed on the outcomes of online courses