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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The number of students taking courses through OSU Extended Campus, the award-winning distance education program at Oregon State University, has almost tripled in the past five years - along with a surge in course offerings, new degrees, an influx of students from all over the world, and a fundamental change in the nature of higher education.

The traditional college student, educators say, is becoming a minority.

And in few places is that trend more evident than the enormous recent growth and interest in distance education, especially at OSU. It is making college accessible to new generations of students.

"It's now estimated that more than 75 percent of the students in higher education in the United States are those referred to as non-traditional, something other than the traditional 18-22 year-old resident student," said Bill McCaughan, dean of OSU Extended Campus.

Dramatic improvements have taken place in the methods used to deliver distance education, says McCaughan, and many students indicate that online courses have provided them a more personal experience than their face-to-face classes. Distance education can provide a good fit for working students, people who hope to finish a degree or earn a second one, obtain a specialized certificate to improve career options, older-than-average students, or those who can't find the programs they need in their local area.

"Perhaps the most compelling aspect of distance education is that distance simply doesn't mean much," McCaughan said. "It doesn't make much difference whether a program is 30 miles away or 3,000 miles away. What students want are quality educational programs that meet their needs."

OSU's creation of strong distance courses, degrees, and programs has gained attention, McCaughan said. Although most students in OSU distance programs are still from Oregon, OSU Extended Campus last year had students from every state in the nation and 14 other countries.

"Many people enroll in the OSU online programs because they want the best program, not the closest," said Lisa Templeton, director of marketing for the OSU Extended Campus. "This has given the university a great deal of visibility around the country, and with our innovations, offerings, and growth, there's evidence that our program is now among the top distance education programs nationally."

Despite being distance learners, students in the program are encouraged to think of themselves as OSU students and an important part of the institution, to come to the campus if possible, buy a Beaver sweatshirt, and attend the university graduation ceremony.

The OSU programs have specialized advising, on-line tutoring, library services, a toll-free line to student services, a live chat period with Career Services, and other special services. Twice in the past five years, an OSU Extended Campus student was named the top distance education student in the nation.

"We make it clear to our distance students that we care about each one of them personally and want them to succeed with their education, whether that's a single course or an entire degree," Templeton said. "I think they recognize and appreciate that personal touch. One rancher from New Mexico used our program to become the first person in his family to ever get a college degree, and he brought 17 family members to Oregon to attend his graduation ceremony." Last spring the OSU Extended Campus served 2,165 students, compared to about 800 five years earlier. Just last year 71 new courses were offered, via the web, video, interactive television, and on-site. There are courses in 45 fields of study, everything from art to philosophy, nuclear engineering, biology and forestry.

OSU offers four bachelor's degrees, five minors, and 10 graduate degrees or programs through distance education, and off-site courses take the university to students throughout Oregon. OSU Extended Campus, through OSU K12 Online, has also created an innovative inventory of high school credit courses, plus advanced placement and college courses for high school students. Within a few years, it plans to give students the opportunity to obtain an accredited Oregon high school diploma.

Meanwhile, McCaughan said, the quality of distance education courses continues to improve.

"We've been able to demonstrate that effective online instruction can provide students with experiences that are at least equivalent in quality to those in a face-to-face lecture class on campus," McCaughan said. "In most of our on-line classes, for instance, students and faculty are introduced to one another through interactive online tools, they interact via computers when their work or community schedule allow them to. They work online in teams to solve academic problems and answer questions, and sometimes break through personal barriers that inhibit them in a traditional classroom setting."

Distance education, McCaughan said, can transcend issues such as age, disabilities, and race that may otherwise form obstacles to interaction. Faculty can spend more time interacting and less time delivering content material and information. Students can study at a pace and time that works within their schedules and suits their learning style. And there are few real obstacles - for instance, at OSU a chemistry laboratory course for non-majors is available online.

A solid business model at the university, McCaughan said, makes the entire distance education program self-supporting, and offers academic programs to thousands of OSU students who could not attend the university otherwise. Training and development support is available for professors who are unfamiliar with distance education concepts and technology.

"Twenty years ago distance education was often looked at as a second-rate form of learning," McCaughan said. "That's just not the case any more, and it's due in large part to some of our best educational institutions and faculty getting involved in extended learning in a major way, committed to quality and to serving students. We're providing new options for the way that people can go to college."