Under the Radar: Branch Campuses Take Off

James W. Fonseca and Charles P. Bird ask the question: "What happened to all the people who thought online learning would drive traditional education out of the market? Just when 'click' is supposed to be replacing 'brick,' branch campuses are proliferating around the country, to the point where the question facing academic administrators these days may well be, 'Where and when are you planning to open your next branch campus?'"

Among possible answers is the fact that the vast majority of students are geographically restricted in their choice of college. Statistics tell us that 79 percent of students attend college in their home state, most within a few hours' drive of home. Many of these students are fundamentally place-bound: limited in their opportunities by financial constraints, family responsibilities, personal characteristics, lifestyle choices, or combinations of these factors. These students appear to desire education within a 30-minute commuting range, leading to much of the explosive demand for branches. In fact, one could argue that branches have helped to create much of the explosion in college attendance by nontraditional students as much as one could argue that branches exist because they are a response to that burgeoning enrollment.