Online education is a rapidly growing segment of the postsecondary system, and recent growth is concentrated at non-profit universities. Research shows that Black and low-income students are disproportionately represented in online programs; however, research on the outcomes of exclusively online education, especially at four-year non-profit universities, has been limited. Two narratives have emerged about the consequences of the access that online education provides: one describing it as promising and the other describing it as predatory. We harness both institution-level data and individual-level data to intervene in this debate. We show that online education is related to worse educational outcomes in non-profit and for-profit sectors, including lower retention and graduation rates. A sensitivity analysis suggests that selection into online education is unlikely to explain these results. Attending online is also related to some less desirable student loan repayment outcomes across sectors. Our results suggest that online education is a form of “predatory inclusion,” in that access is coupled with increased risks for students relative to comparable peers attending in-person. In light of our findings, we propose that the provision of online education by for-profit entities—even in the non-profit sector—may play a central role in producing poor student outcomes.

中文翻译：

---

有希望的还是掠夺性的？非营利性和营利性大学的在线教育

在线教育是高等教育系统中一个快速增长的部分，最近的增长集中在非营利性大学。研究表明，黑人和低收入学生在在线课程中的比例过高；然而，对纯在线教育成果的研究，尤其是在四年制非营利性大学中的成果，却很有限。关于在线教育提供的访问权限的后果出现了两种说法：一种将其描述为有希望的，另一种将其描述为掠夺性的。我们利用机构层面的数据和个人层面的数据来介入这场辩论。我们表明，在线教育与非营利和营利部门较差的教育成果有关，包括较低的保留率和毕业率。敏感性分析表明，选择在线教育不太可能解释这些结果。在线上课也与一些不太理想的学生贷款偿还结果有关。我们的结果表明，在线教育是一种“掠夺性包容”的形式，因为与面对面参加的可比同龄人相比，在线教育伴随着更高的风险。根据我们的研究结果，我们建议营利实体（即使是非营利部门）提供的在线教育可能在导致学生成绩不佳方面发挥核心作用。” 在这种情况下，与亲自参加的可比同龄人相比，学生的风险增加了。根据我们的研究结果，我们建议营利实体（即使是非营利部门）提供的在线教育可能在导致学生成绩不佳方面发挥核心作用。” 在这种情况下，与亲自参加的可比同龄人相比，学生的风险增加了。根据我们的研究结果，我们建议营利实体（即使是非营利部门）提供的在线教育可能在导致学生成绩不佳方面发挥核心作用。