Central Texas College will observe National Distance Learning Week, November 5-8, with a variety of online activities to engage students and potential online users. During the week, the public is invited to log on to the CTC Distance Education webpage, www.online.ctcd.edu, to learn how distance education can help achieve educational goals, become familiar with the services available to the CTC distant learner and participate in a series of online activities designed educate the general public on the future of learning.

Throughout the week, CTC’s Distance Education and Education Technology department will offer virtual events for students and the public including online daily quizzes and trivia challenges for prizes. Resources regarding distance education and CTC online services such as Blackboard, BioSig-ID, SafeAssign and Blackboard Collaborate will also be available as well as links to various online webinars.

Earlier this year, CTC was ranked among the best online colleges on the Top Colleges List 2018-19 assessed by OnlineColleges.com. CTC was rated as the 13th best online college among all two-year and four-year schools in Texas and the eighth best community college in the country. OnlineColleges.com collected data on more than 2,500 accredited colleges and universities from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics and ranked them based on a variety of factors including affordability, student services and the availability of online programs.

In addition, CTC was just ranked 10th among the best online and non-traditional schools for military veterans on the Best for Vets: College 2019 list compiled by Military Times. This past year, CTC was ranked among the best online colleges in the country by bestvaluesschols.com and affordablecollegesonline.org. And in the past 10 years, CTC was ranked fifth in the nation among colleges and universities with the most students enrolled in degree-granting online programs.

CTC first began offering credit-granting online-only and distance education courses in 1997 with approximately 500 enrollments. Since then, distance education enrollments have totaled nearly 215,000. Currently, CTC has more than 5,400 online students in Texas and more than 50,000 worldwide.

A handful of online degree-granting programs were initially offered in 2000. Today, CTC offers more than 450 online courses and 55 degree programs which can be completed solely online. CTC distant learners can take advantage of the affordable tuition, frequent class start dates, three-, eight-, 12- and 16-week course schedules and 24/7 technical support.