Offering a college education via the Internet also makes a degree more accessible for nontraditional students, noted Gail Niklason, director of online education for Weber State University. Adult learners, for example, are flocking to the online classes and are often more capable of keeping track of getting the course done on time without a professor looking over their shoulder.

And while online education has garnered a stigma for lacking personal relations, Salt Lake Community College professor Karla Fisher said her best teacher-student relationships evolved out of virtual classrooms.

Instead of a massive class of faceless students, Fisher said she would be in constant touch with her students via e-mail. The anonymity of Internet discussion boards also encourages shy students to voice opinions and shed insecurities, she said.

"They don't experience the peer pressure of everyone around them, so they don't want to ask a question," Fisher said. "But online, no problem, they just let it out there."

Fisher added that many of her students have also bought into the other prevailing stereotype of online course work — it's easy. Each semester, many students drop the online edition of class once they realize that it's not going to be a breeze. The class, she said, is just like any other class with intensive reading and rigorous tests.

"Some students will get on and say, 'This isn't what I thought. I thought it was just getting online and reading a Web site. This is a real class and real work,' " she said.

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