A new report details two big higher education trends: a spike in the number of private, for-profit schools, and more institutions offering professional degrees in areas such as health, business, law and education.

And there’s a connection between the trends. Researchers who compiled the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education, released in early January by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, say that the focus on a small set of professional programs for undergraduate and graduate students have been triggered by the growth of for-profit schools.

“This suggests that the higher education landscape is shifting further away from the traditional model of the liberal arts college,” says Chun-Mei Zhao, who directs Carnegie’s Classifications, in a press release.

The foundation had added 483 institutions (for a total of 4,633), with 77 percent in the private for-profit sector, 19 percent private nonprofit schools and 4 percent public. The Chronicle of Higher Education does note that the rise in the for-profit sector may be a bit inflated because the Foundation lists each individual campus of for-profit schools with multiple locations such as the University of Phoenix, Art Institute, DeVry University, and ITT Technical Institute.

With the growth, there are more choices for students. That’s why it’s important to remember that you need to research the quality of the programs by looking at the schools’ accreditation, history, and reviews of the institutions.

For undergraduate programs, there are 115 “professional” institutions, a 17 percent increase since 2005. But the number of institutions with more than 60 percent of bachelor’s of arts and sciences degrees dropped by 5 percent since 2005.

It’s interesting to see what that could mean for traditional liberal arts schools in the future. Is the liberal arts education taking a backseat to more career-oriented education? Will there be a greater focus on online learning? Are students more concerned than ever about graduating from college job-less?

Only time will tell… share your thoughts below!

-Lori Johnston

Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion in the never-ending traditional vs. online education debate – but who should you listen to? When it comes to forming opinions about what’s right for you, start with proven facts, like these, courtesy of the 2010 Sloan Survey of Online Learning of more than 2,500 colleges and universities nationwide:

>> Approximately 5.6 million students were enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2009.
Even more impressive, that number is up almost one million students from fall 2008. You read right – in the span of one year, almost a million more students signed up for online learning.

>> The 2008-9 online enrollment jump represents the largest ever year-to-year increase in the number of students studying online.
It’s no surprise that online education is on the rise, but these kinds of numbers are not typical. This is the biggest numerical increase in the eight-year history of the Sloan Survey, and the largest proportional increase – 21 percent – since 2005.

>> The 21 percent growth rate for online enrollments far exceeds the 2 percent growth in the overall higher education student population. Online enrollments have grown at more than nine times the rate of general higher education enrollment since 2002.
When you look at statistics, it’s important to have a basis of comparison – if a 21 percent growth rate were average, it wouldn’t be worth noting. But the fact that online education enrollment has been outpacing traditional education enrollment by such a large margin says there’s something to this whole online learning thing.

>> Almost a third of all college students in the country take at least one course online.
This stat also puts online enrollment in perspective. Think of it this way: in a group of 21 college students, about 7 will be enrolled in at least one online course. Take a straw poll and see if it’s true on your campus.

>> Nearly one-half of institutions say that the economic downturn has increased demand for face-to-face courses and programs. At the same time, three-quarters of institutions report that the recession has increased demand for online courses and programs.
When your job prospects are slim, education is a great way to increase your opportunities for employment and promotion. It can even help you launch a new career. Here again, online schools are outpacing traditional schools in education demand. Which would you choose to increase your marketability?

>> Two-thirds of academic administrators agree that online education is the same as or better than face-to-face instruction.
Just because everyone’s doing it doesn’t mean it’s a good thing to do. But the academic experts are worth listening to on this one. Acceptance of online education is continuing its upward trend, indicating increasing quality and confidence in the online delivery model. And the claim that online education can be even better than traditional education is worth checking out yourself, don’t you think?

-Robyn Tellefsen

As a writer, I enjoy reading about other writers who have made the news for their fiction or journalistic endeavors. Of course, there are times when writers are in the headlines for plagiarism or other forms of literary discourtesy. For those unfortunate incidents, I still read the news, but not with any enjoyment.

However, the latest case of journalist fraud that was in the newspapers was one that I read with great relish. Why? Because the subject in question was online education, and in trying to expose the supposed dark deeds behind online programs, the writer did a dark deed of his own and made up a good portion of the article by fabricating sources and quotes.

The writer, Rob Sgobbo, is a recent Columbia j-school grad, so he should know a thing or two about high tuition bills. And yes, there are online programs that have been exposed for less-than-ethical recruiting tactics. But as in many other things in life, it’s not fair that the majority is punished because of the mistakes of the minority.

A college education certainly can be an expense, but it shouldn’t also come at the expense of being scammed. This latest lie in the news is just a reminder to us all that there are often multiple sides to a story (including made-up ones) and that it’s important for us to formulate our own opinions when it comes to things that are important to us, like education.

So, should you still tread carefully when researching online programs? Yes, just as you would if researching traditional on-campus programs. Ask about program accreditation. Request information on tuition costs and financial aid. See what alumni have been up to. If you ask the right questions, you’ll get the answers you’ll need to make your decision, rather than let shoddy journalists (he was fired, by the way) make the decision for you.

–Barbara Bellesi

You know it’s a good day for online education when Mashable recognizes its value and makes the “case for the virtual classroom.” In fact, as of this posting, the piece has already been tweeted over 1600 times, and shared 800+ times on Facebook!

What makes me happy is that all of the points made by the author mirror what we’ve been saying on this blog for some time now, namely that online learning is here to stay! (Yes, Mashable, we’re on the cutting edge just like you!) All kidding aside, we’re in agreement that a quality education is quality education, no matter the medium or mode of delivery.

What is also articulated by Mashable is the idea that online learning can create a bridge to education that isn’t otherwise accessible because it’s across the globe. It can also help enhance existing traditional classroom programs, and solve any issues that come with limited physical classroom space.

The fact is we all live online now. Our world is moving toward a virtual workplace, virtual social space, and virtual play place, so why not virtual education space, too? Of course, we’ll also need face-to-face interaction — we are human after all. But educational institutions that want to thrive (and, let’s face it, compete!) over the next decade are already dabbling or going full force into offering online programs. Students and educators alike will ultimately need to embrace this shift so that the quality of online education can reach its fullest potential.

-Dawn Papandrea