Online Learning Statistics 2026

In fall 2024, 54.7% of students were enrolled in at least one distance education course.

26.5% of students were enrolled exclusively in online courses, while 28.2% were enrolled in one or more online courses alongside their in-person courses.

This represents an increase from 2014, when 28.3% of students were enrolled in distance education, but a decrease from the 2020 peak,* when 74.7% were enrolled in at least one such course.

In fall 2024, 10.9 million students were enrolled in at least one distance education course.

In fall 2024, 81.9% of students enrolled at private for-profit institutions were enrolled in at least one distance education course, far higher than the 55.2% at public institutions or the 46.2% at private nonprofit institutions.

Only 45.8% of graduate students enrolled exclusively in distance education are enrolled at an institution within their state/jurisdiction, compared to 67.1% of undergraduates.

20.4% of degree programs offered allow students to complete some or all of their courses via distance education.

This reflects a 103% increase in exclusively distance education enrollment since 2012, when 2.6 million students were enrolled across 3,295 degree-granting institutions.

100% online institutions enrolled 12% of all exclusively distance education students nationally.

There was a 4.9% increase in reported EDEE from Fall 2024 to Fall 2025: from 4,442,246 students (2024) to 4,657,856 (2025).

In Fall 2025, more than 1.7 million students attended out-of-state institutions exclusively via distance education through SARA.

Private nonprofit institutions continued to represent the largest proportion of out-of-state EDEE with 46.5% of the total (883,406)

An evaluation of reported EDEE by sector over time reveals that private for-profits have increased from 12.9% in 2021 to 13.1% in 2025 as a proportion of total reported EDEE.

There were 546,869 OOLSP reported by participating institutions for the calendar year 2025, an increase of about 15.5% from the 473,548 reported in 2024.

Almost half of all faculty (47%) taught at least one course fully online, where there was no in-person or on-campus instruction.

In 2025-26, fully face-to-face was the most common, at 71%, followed by fully online (47%) and blended or hybrid (24%).

Face-to-face is back —Instructor preference for in-person teaching jumped to 64%, up from 55% in 2023.

Online learning demand continues surging with 74% of COLOs reporting increased graduate student demand, 66% seeing growth in adult undergraduate interest, and 60% noting rises in traditional-age students.

Investment in nondegree offerings, such as certificates, micro-credentials, and bootcamps is surging with 65% of COLOs reporting some or major investment in these programs, more than doubling from 29% in 2018-19

While only 35% of COLOs consider AI very or extremely important today, 72% expect it to be within two years.

Meanwhile, the digital divide persists as a barrier, with 21% of COLOs reporting it affects many students and 57% noting uneven AI tool access impacts learners.

In 2025, 16% of individuals aged between 16 and 74 years had done an online course while 17% engaged in online interactions with educators or fellow learners.

In 2025, 16% of individuals aged between 16 and 74 years had done an online course while 17% engaged in online interactions with educators or fellow learners.

Ireland (30%), Finland (29%), the Netherlands (28%) and Spain (27%) reported the highest shares of individuals having done an online course in 2025.

Together, we now reach over 290 million learners, 18,000 enterprise customers, and a global ecosystem of 95,000 content creators, alongside hundreds of university and industry partners.

Coursera reached: 191 million total global learners Recorded 41.8 million enrollments , a 14% increase year-over-year

5.4 million GenAI enrollments , nearly double last year’s total

Analysis of both Coursera and Udemy data finds that learners are now enrolling in GenAI content at a combined rate of more than 45 enrollments per minute, up from 25 per minute in 2025.

We added nearly 50,000 paid subscribers during Q4 to reach more than 340,000 total at year end.

Consolidated subscription revenue of $566.0 million increased 8% year-over-year, representing 72% of total revenue, or a 600 basis point expansion.

This year, English learning soared again, becoming the #1 language in 154 countries—an increase of 14% over 2024.

In 2025, people from 219 countries and 148 first languages took the Duolingo English Test—a notable increase from 2024

Daily active users (DAUs) accelerated for a second quarter in a row to 29% year-over-year growth, up from 23% in Q2.

Today nearly half of learning and talent development professionals see a skills crisis, with 49% agreeing, “My executives are concerned that employees do not have the right skills to execute our business strategy.

The upshot: Only 36% of organizations fall into the career development champions category with robust programs that yield business results.

51% describe their organization as a frontrunner in GAI adoption (at the “leading” or “accelerating” stage), compared to 36% of those with weaker career development programs.

Micro-credential enrollments grew 33% year over year, with AI micro-credential enrollments specifically growing 122%, indicating rising participation in structured pathways that make newly developed skills visible.

In Coursera’s 2026 Micro-Credentials Impact Report , 95% of surveyed employers said micro-credentials are a key differentiator between candidates, while 87% rated them as highly important in hiring.

More than half of teens say they have used chatbots to search for information (57%) or get help with schoolwork (54%).

A majority of teens (59%) think using AI to cheat is a regular occurrence at their school – happening at least somewhat often.

Weekly GenAI use now spans 42% of students and 30% of instructors.

81% of students and educators surveyed by Coursera report that AI is positively influencing higher education.

52% of educators believe that the higher education system in their country is unprepared to handle AI, and only 26% of faculty respondents globally reported that their institution has a formal policy governing AI use.

AI adoption in Latin American higher education is already widespread, with 92% of students and 79% of faculty actively engaging with AI, according to the Digital Education Council AI in Higher Education Latin America Survey 2026.

61% of students fear AI misuse by peers, raising concerns around fairness and academic integrity.

In fall 2024, 48 percent of districts reported that they had trained teachers on the use of AI, which is a substantial, 25-percentage-point increase from the percentage of districts that reported implementing training on AI in fall 2023.

By fall 2024, 67 percent of low-poverty districts reported having provided training for teachers on AI use, compared with 42 percent of middle-poverty districts and 39 percent of high-poverty districts.