Los Angeles Unified School District created the Los Angeles Virtual Academy in 2005 to increase access to college prep courses, advanced placement classes and remedial algebra. About 500 students from eight high schools and one middle school take classes there, an increase of about 100 students over last year.
Orange Lutheran's online school, created because enrollment at the 1,150-student school was at capacity, began accepting students in the fall of 2005. Currently, 243 are enrolled in 21 courses offered in eight-week semesters. More than half the students have never set foot on the school's 12 1/2-acre campus, while the remainder are Lutheran High School students who split their time between the traditional school and online learning.
Virtual students at Orange Lutheran must log into their classes daily and read lectures, answer questions, participate in class discussions on message boards and do homework. Students are free to schedule their schoolwork whenever it suits them, as long as they log in daily.
Students pay $300 per half-credit if enrolled full time at the online school and $400 per half-credit if enrolled part time. Students who opt to complete their high school education entirely online could earn their diplomas a year early. Those enrolled full time can take part in the athletics and extracurricular events at Lutheran High. Enrollment online only would cost roughly $4,200 a year, significantly less than the traditional school's annual tuition of $7,000 to $10,000.
The rigor of the curricula and the interaction between the instructors and the students are what make online courses successful, Ellwein said.
"It's not a correspondence course," he said. "What we do here -- it's a classroom. Kids are in the classroom every day. You have incredible feedback. It's not an easy credit."
Students can receive a high school diploma through the program, but to be eligible for UC admission, they must complete science labs at the traditional school.
The University of California has seen such an increase in applicants taking online courses that last fall the faculty established criteria for evaluating the classes, said Susan Wilbur, UC's director of undergraduate admissions. Under the new policy, all online course providers must be approved by UC, and then each online course must be evaluated to determine whether it meets UC admissions requirements.
