Abstract
Higher education aspirations and attainment is often difficult for non-traditional students trying to balance competing demands in life. Online learning has been utilized and implemented to various degrees of in-person and digital interactions. In particular, community colleges have taken a lead in furthering the promotion of this avenue as a pathway into higher education. While online learning has increased opportunities and access to higher education for many students there are still ongoing concerns with quality, engagement, and interaction between students and instructors. This study sought to explore the needs and experiences of community college students with online learning. Online students were recruited from a local community college to participate in an online survey capturing their preferences, perceived advantages, and perceived disadvantages with online learning. Results showed students heavily favoring online learning for its flexibility, convenience, and self-pace factors. However, many students also expressed sentiments related to lack of academic support, lowered sense of community, decreased motivation, and lack of peer interaction as detrimental to their overall online learning experiences. Overall, it appears that online learning has a strong place and need in higher education to help address students that would otherwise find it difficult to pursue furthering their education. Being informed by students can enable educational institutions to collaborate and address those concerns to potentially provide learning experiences that are in alignment with the expectations of adult learners.