What Keeps Online STEM Students Enrolled | Labster Research
New research surveyed 400+ online and hybrid STEM students to reveal what drives persistence and retention, and why experiential learning is the key.
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Kai has five browser tabs open on her laptop, each displaying a different online health sciences program. At 32, with a full-time job and two young children, she wants to earn a bachelor’s degree in STEM so she can advance to a higher-level healthcare career. But leaving her job or regularly commuting to campus isn’t realistic. She knows an online program can give her the flexibility she needs, but Kai isn’t convinced every online program will give her the experience she needs to get ahead. She’s especially concerned about taking science courses online.
Her mind is racing with questions:
Kai’s story isn’t unique. In a recent survey of 411 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in online or hybrid STEM programs at 4-year universities or graduate schools (including fully online institutions) across the United States and Canada, 73% were worried about online learning being less engaging, and 71% worried it would be less effective than an in-person program.
While an institution may know that its online STEM program offers a rigorous, high-quality education, prospective students also need to see evidence that the experience will prepare them for the career they are working toward. Students like Kai face financial restraints, geographical restraints, job and family restraints. They need the flexibility of online learning, but they also want reassurance that choosing an online program will not mean compromising the quality of their education or their preparation for what comes next. And when students have several online options to compare, those concerns matter.
In fact, the research study shows just how much those concerns shape the way students evaluate online and hybrid STEM programs. It also points to a potential differentiator that students say could influence where they ultimately choose to enroll.
When students compare online and hybrid STEM programs, they are not only thinking about earning a degree. They are thinking about where that degree will take them.
In the survey, 94% of students said that when choosing an online or hybrid program, they wanted to ensure it would advance their career. That expectation creates a high bar for institutions competing for prospective students. While flexibility may bring students to online education, flexibility alone may not be enough to earn their commitment.
What gives students greater confidence in the value of an online STEM program?
The research points strongly toward opportunities to learn by doing. Of students surveyed, 93% said hands-on practice makes completing a STEM program more valuable to employers, while 91% said hands-on learning is vital to preparing them for a STEM career.
Students are also using hands-on experiences as a measure of program quality: 79% said they judge the quality of their program partly on whether it provides meaningful hands-on experience, and 78% said that without hands-on labs, they feel less prepared for their future career.
Those findings suggest that hands-on learning carries significance beyond the individual course or lab experience. Students see it as part of what makes a STEM education credible, valuable, and relevant to their future. That presents both a challenge and an opportunity for online STEM programs. If they can combine the accessibility and flexibility of online education with the credibility and confidence of hands-on learning, they will serve the needs of their students and differentiate themselves in a sea of similarity.
Virtual labs offer one way to bring those experiences into online STEM programs without requiring students to give up the flexibility that led many of them to online education in the first place.
Students can experiment with concepts, practice procedures, make mistakes without real consequences, and apply their knowledge in an interactive environment from wherever they are learning. Just as importantly for institutions focused on growth, the presence of those experiences can matter before a student ever enters a course.
But this isn’t just theory. In the study, 84% of students said that knowing a program offered flexible, interactive virtual labs would have made a STEM program more appealing when they were evaluating schools.
The connection to enrollment is even more impressive: 81% said access to virtual labs would have positively influenced their decision to enroll in a specific program.
Let’s read that again:
81% said access to virtual labs would have positively influenced their decision to enroll in a specific program.
In a crowded online education market, that is a finding worth noting. Prospective students are already asking whether an online STEM program will engage them, teach them effectively, and prepare them for their careers. Virtual labs give institutions a relatively low-cost, easy-to-implement, tangible way to show how they are addressing those concerns while providing the hands-on experiences students say they value.
Differentiation is strongest when it is rooted in something prospective students genuinely care about. Adding features simply to make a program look different is unlikely to solve the enrollment challenge if those features do not connect to the reasons students are pursuing a STEM education in the first place.
The research suggests hands-on learning does.
Students associate it with program quality, employer value, and career preparation. When that hands-on experience is available through flexible virtual labs, students also say it can make a program more appealing and influence their enrollment decision. That creates an opportunity for institutions to think differently about the role virtual labs play in their online programs. They are not only a way to deliver experiential learning after a student enrolls. They can also be part of the story an institution tells prospective students about what makes its STEM program worth choosing.
Winning the enrollment decision is an important first step, but the value of hands-on learning does not end when a student chooses a program. Once enrolled, students need experiences that reinforce the belief that they made the right choice. Opportunities to practice, apply concepts, and build skills can help students develop confidence in their ability to succeed in STEM, potentially addressing some of the same doubts that existed when they were first evaluating programs.
That is where differentiation begins to connect to another major institutional priority: retention.
The next question is what happens when students who choose a program because they value hands-on learning actually have opportunities to practice, improve, and build confidence throughout their STEM education. The answer may help explain how the same experiences that support enrollment can also help institutions keep more of the students they worked so hard to attract.
Career preparation is the primary driver. 94% of students surveyed said they wanted to ensure their program would advance their career. But flexibility alone isn't enough to earn their commitment. Students are also evaluating whether a program will provide the hands-on experiences they associate with a credible, employer-valued STEM education. Programs that can combine online accessibility with meaningful experiential learning are best positioned to stand out in a crowded market.
Yes, significantly. In a survey of 411 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in online or hybrid STEM programs across the United States and Canada, 73% worried that online learning would be less engaging than an in-person program, and 71% worried it would be less effective. Those concerns shape how students evaluate programs before they enroll, making it important for institutions to demonstrate — not just assert — that their online STEM experience is rigorous and career-relevant.
Students directly connect hands-on experience to program credibility and career readiness. In the research, 93% said hands-on practice makes completing a STEM program more valuable to employers, 91% said it is vital to career preparation, and 79% said they judge program quality partly on whether meaningful hands-on experiences are provided. For online programs, meeting that expectation is both a challenge and a competitive opportunity.
Yes, and the data is striking. In the study, 84% of students said knowing a program offered flexible, interactive virtual labs would have made it more appealing when they were evaluating schools, and 81% said access to virtual labs would have positively influenced their decision to enroll in a specific program. For institutions competing in a crowded online education market, virtual labs represent a tangible, relatively low-cost way to address the concerns prospective students are already bringing to their program search.
The same qualities that make virtual labs an enrollment differentiator — hands-on practice, skill-building, and confidence — continue to deliver value after a student enrolls. Students who chose a program because it offered meaningful experiential learning need those experiences to reinforce that they made the right decision. When students have ongoing opportunities to practice, apply concepts, and build competence, it strengthens their confidence in their ability to succeed in STEM, which is one of the strongest documented predictors of persistence and retention.
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