In keeping with a national trend, more and more students at the University of Wyoming's main campus in Laramie are also taking classes online.
U.W.'s Outreach School developed online courses for people who wanted to pursue degrees but would not be able to attend classes on the main campus.
Online Learning Coordinator Larry Jansen says the Outreach School saw an uptick in main campus students enrolling in online classes about five years ago when all U.W. students began using the same website and course catalog to register for classes.
"Before, you had to sort of take that extra step to look for Outreach classes, or very specifically got to the outreach catalog. But now outreach classes are listed right along with main campus sections, and so students just have that choice right in front of them."
Jansen said main campus students make up about 40 percent of online enrollment, which increased about 10 percent every year. He says they're drawn to the convenience and flexibility of online classes, in which students can complete exercises and assignments on their own time.
