"I've heard (EHS) classes are harder, because you don't have anyone pushing you, and you have to do it on your own," said Burton, who plans to set aside time during the summer weeks for the course work.

Siddoway said many students, like Burton, enroll to get courses out of the way or to graduate early, but many others are trying to make up credit. Many homeschoolers are also enrolled as well as are high school dropouts who want to earn a diploma.

Siddoway said physical education classes are among the most popular. Some students don't like to shower in locker rooms or don't like the competitiveness that often accompanies traditional physical education classes. In online classes, students log required workouts and also study health-related topics.

English, algebra and U.S. government are also top picks among EHS students.

Currently state leaders are exploring the idea of taking the program nationwide.

This month the State Board of Education gave the green light to go forward in developing a plan that would create a second Electronic High School campus that would be marketed nationally.

Partnering with entrepreneurs, the second campus, currently called the American Academy, would be a for-profit program targeting 18-to-30-year-olds who have not earned high school diplomas.

EHS would supply teachers, courses and issue diplomas and also get a cut of the profits to roll back into EHS.

Siddoway said finding teachers would be easy, since he has around 500 teachers who have expressed interest in teaching in the program.

A proposal and business plan are expected to be ready sometime next fall.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com