100+ eLearning Statistics 2026

Report Highlights:

In 2025, 75% of schools are planning to operate online (or through a hybrid model).
As of 2023, 70% of K-12 students have access to digital tools necessary for online learning.
55% of elementary students, 75% of middle school students, and 80% of high school students are equipped with digital tools.
As of 2025, 80% of schools have purchased or are preparing to purchase additional technology for students.
As of 2025, ~40% of universities are continuing full-time online classes (down from 98% in 2021).
77% of academic leaders believe online education is equal or superior to traditional learning (up from 49% in 2021).
It is projected that about 70% of corporate training will be delivered through eLearning formats in 2025.
eLearning can help students retain between 25% and 60% more information.
However, an increase in eLearning has resulted in a 30% increase of failing grades.
15%-25% of students still lack adequate access to technology and internet resources.
The global eLearning market grew to an estimated $354 billion in 2025.
47% of learning management platforms are expected to be AI-powered by 2025.

e-learning trend — e-Learning Interest by State (source google trends)

Related Statistics: College Dropout Rates – Homeschooling Statistics – Online Learning Market Size.

eLearning vs Traditional Learning

It was a long-held belief that eLearning would eventually overtake traditional learning.

With the onset of the global pandemic, this timeline moved up faster than expected.

eLearning has now grown by over 900% since the year 2000.

At the same time, eLearning has highlighted certain gaps in the education system. This includes resources, teacher support, and even security.

The number of users on online learning platforms is expected to reach 1 billion by 2028.

K-12 eLearning Statistics

eLearning has been slowly introduced to the K-12 system for the last decade or so. However, the implementation has not been balanced across the board.

In 2014, 26 states offered state virtual learning.
24 states offered supplemental classes via virtual schools, catering to over 462,000 students.
These students took a total of 815,000 online semester-long courses.
85% of these courses were taken by high school students.
23% of the courses taken were math, while 14% of the courses were science.
64% of the online learning opportunities were to provide courses not available at a particular school.
57% of the opportunities were to help students recover from missed or failed courses.
40% of the courses provided students with AP or college-level courses.
30% were available to reduce scheduling conflicts.
25% were in place to help students with special needs or who were homebound.
11 states offer online course choice programs.
In the 2017-2018 school year, 21% of public schools and 13% of private schools offered at least one online course.
Of the schools that offered at least one online course, 81.9% were primary schools.
3% of middle schools provided at least one online course, while only 53.8% of high schools provided this option.
Around 4.8% offered all courses online.
About 2.9% of schools offered half of their courses online.
In 2019, a total of 57% of all students in the United States were equipped with digital learning tools.
45% were elementary students, 64% were middle school students, and 63% were high school students.
Administrators stated that up to 70% of online classes could be taken without any orientation.
In 2021, use of remote management apps for academic purposes increased by 87%.
The use of collaboration apps increased by 141%.
40% of student device usage was spent on education platforms.
Full-time classes were available in 68% of high-income districts but only in 36% of schools with low-income students.
In 2021, 75% of US schools planned to operate completely online.
80% have purchased or are planning to purchase additional technology for students.
As of 2023, 68% of K-12 teachers wanted more EdTech resources for students with individual education plans.
73% of US students said they wanted to continue some online classes even after the pandemic ended.

Tertiary eLearning Statistics

eLearning has always been more widely accepted at higher education institutions. The shift to online education on a national level has also changed how universities operate.

In 2017, 33.5% of higher education students were enrolled in some form of distance or online learning.
5% of undergraduate students took at least one course online.
3% of students enrolled exclusively in distance learning schools.
In 2018, 23% of undergrads took business classes, while 19% took health and medicine.
In 2020, 84% of undergrads were enrolled in degree programs, while 16% were enrolled in certification or licensure programs.
1% of post-baccalaureate students took at least one online course.
9% were exclusively enrolled in distance learning schools.
In 2020, 77% of grad students were enrolled in degree programs while 23% were part of certification or licensure programs.
32% of students enrolled in public institutions took at least one distance learning course.
Overall, in 2017, 3.1 million students enrolled exclusively in distance education.
7 million students were within the state they were enrolled in while 1.1 million were out of state.
142,840 students were outside of the United States.
Since 2020, 98% of universities had moved classes online.
46% of institutions offered independent or remote study options for foreign students.
In 2023, over half of college students said digital learning has made higher education more accessible for everyone.
In a 2023 McKinsey study, 65% of students said they wanted certain parts of their learning to stay virtual.

You can find out more about how this connects to college dropout rates and how online access affects student success.

Corporate eLearning Statistics

It is not just schools that have adopted eLearning. Many companies also use it to keep workers up to date. And as the tools get better, new ways of learning keep being added.

Employees state that they learn 5 times more material via eLearning. Here are more employee training statistics.
77% of US companies provide online learning opportunities.
This number was supposed to rise to 98% by 2020.
67% of companies offered learning opportunities via mobile devices.
99% of mobile users state their mobile learning enhances their experiences.
The global corporate LMS market was valued at $13.9 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $50.1 billion by 2030.
Tailoring learning paths with AI has led to a 57% increase in learning efficiency for corporate teams.
In 2025, 30% of corporate learning teams are already using AI-powered tools in their programs.

AI and Mobile Learning

Two of the biggest trends shaping eLearning right now are artificial intelligence and mobile learning.

47% of learning management systems are expected to be AI-driven by 2025.

Almost two-thirds of students now use AI tools to help with their studies. Among them, 50% rely on ChatGPT or similar tools for research and test prep.

The global mobile learning market is expected to reach $156 billion by 2026, growing at a yearly rate of over 30%.

Gamification is also gaining ground. Adding game-like features such as badges and leaderboards to online courses helps keep students focused and motivated.

Educators Attitudes Towards eLearning

It is just as important to understand how educators feel about eLearning. This can go a long way in determining how well online education works.

Just 49% of professors see eLearning as being as effective as in-classroom instruction.
However, this attitude has improved by 10% in just a few months.
Over 33% of educators lack support for eLearning.
71% of professors are concerned about increasing engagement in online classes.
39% want to improve accessibility to online materials for students.
33% admit that they need to redesign courses to fit online formats.
31% are concerned with improving student collaboration.
As of 2024, 60% of teachers believe AI will be used more widely in education within the next decade.

eLearning Effectiveness

There has been a great deal of debate about how well eLearning actually works. The data tells a more complex story than most people expect.

48% of undergrad and grad students felt online learning was as effective as face-to-face instruction.
37% of students felt that online learning was better than in-classroom lessons.
15% of students stated that they were not as effective.
42% of grad students compared to 30% of undergrads preferred online learning to in-classroom learning.
On average, students can retain 25% to 60% more information when learning online, compared to 8% to 10% in the classroom.
eLearning requires 40% to 60% less time learning than traditional classrooms.
However, 1 in 3 teachers are significantly less prepared for grade-level work.
The average student lost at least 1/3 of a year in reading during the pandemic shift.
They lost at least 3/4 of a year in math.
Completion rates for online courses can be up to 22% lower for some students.
D and F grades are increasing as much as 30% for some middle school students with online learning.
In some regions, failing grades for online learning have increased by as much as 70%.
Students with disabilities have experienced failing grades by around 98%.

Barriers to eLearning

While eLearning appears to be the future of education, there are still real barriers standing in the way. Understanding these gaps is key to building a better system for all students.

In 2012, 55% of K-12 teachers reported not having enough computers for students.
In 2015, 21% of middle school students and 13% of high school students did not have access to digital devices.
Only 34% to 48% of science teachers found the technology adequate for learning.
In 2020, 1 in 3 elementary school students used a mobile device instead of a computer to complete classwork.
1 in 3 families reported not having an adequate space for a proper learning experience.
High minority schools were 50% less likely to have high speed internet access than low minority schools.
Low-income schools and rural schools were 50% more likely to have slow internet access.
25% of Black households and 23% of Hispanic households do not have access to high-speed internet.
20 states prohibit enrollment in online schools.
Nearly 25% of 15-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds do not have access to a computer.
In 2020, 63% of online instruction was perceived as being received worse.

Some families have turned to homeschooling as an alternative when online public school options fall short.

eLearning Security and Privacy

As more students and teachers have moved towards eLearning, privacy and security have become bigger concerns.

The regular patch age for Microsoft Windows and Apple MacOS devices was 183 days and 31 days respectively.
41% of schools had rogue VPNs and web proxy apps in their device environments.
On average, students spent an hour each day on websites with inappropriate content.
K-12 devices had an antivirus compliance rate of just 60%.

Cybersecurity in schools is now a top concern for administrators as more student data moves online.

The full picture of eLearning is more complex than most people imagine. The tools are powerful, but access, support, and security gaps still need to be closed.

eLearning is not going away – but making it work fairly for every student will take real investment and effort from schools, families, and governments alike.

Sources

[1] Statista, Share of K-12 Students in the United States Who Use Digital Learning Tools Daily in 2019, By School Level
[2] National Science Board, Science & Engineering Indicators 2018
[3] National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Facts: Distance Learning
[4] EdTech Magazine, 7 Telling Statistics About the State of K-12 Online Learning
[5] Education Data, Online Education Statistics
[6] The Markup, Kids Are “Failing” Online Learning
[7] World Economic Forum, The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Changed Education Forever. This is How
[8] Inside Higher Ed, Faculty Confidence in Online Learning Grows
[9] USA Today, Students are Falling Behind in Online School. Where’s the COVID-19 ‘Disaster Plan’ to Catch Them Up?
[10] Corporate Learning Network, Data That Proves the Continued Importance of Employee Learning
[11] MarketScale, Gaps in K-12 Device and Data Security Thanks to Distance Learning
[12] The University of Kansas School of Education & Human Sciences, The Evolution of Distance Education in 2020