

On the flip side, many students still hesitate to enroll in fully remote programs, and students globally cited these top-three reasons: fear of becoming more distracted by studying online, getting bored if the learning experience is not motivating, and lacking discipline to complete the online program.

When asked to rank, in order of preference, 11 learning features that should remain or become virtual, students identified these as the top three: recording classes and making them available to watch later, easy access to online study materials, and flexibility that enables students to work and study. Students say they appreciate the flexibility and convenience. Even in France, which had the lowest share, more than half of students said they wanted some learning elements to remain virtual.

What students value-and don’t value-in online learningĪll students we surveyed had moved to online classes during the pandemic, and almost 65 percent of them said they want aspects of their learning experience to remain virtual. Our aim is to help these institutions deliver better experiences and, we hope, outcomes for the students they serve. This article outlines our findings and offers a three-step action plan that higher education institutions can use to build and improve their online learning programs. The research covers eight dimensions of the online learning experience encompassing 24 attributes, thereby providing a broad view of what higher education students want (Exhibit 1). To ascertain which learning models higher education students prefer and why, as well as what they find satisfying about online education and which elements of the online learning experience they value most, we surveyed 7,000 students across 17 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East (see sidebar “About our research”). The eight components encompass 24 attributes of online learning experiences. To give a holistic view, our survey covered eight components: target students and demographics, satisfaction with college and learning experience, the importance of attributes for ideal online education, attribute performance for ideal online education, modality preferences, reasons for those preferences, impediments to online education, and post-COVID-19 trends. Our goal was to ascertain and analyze students’ preferences and satisfaction with online learning.

In April 2022, McKinsey surveyed more than 7,000 students across 17 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
