100+ Elearning Statistics, Facts and Trends

The elearning market has experienced a significant shift in recent times, with the growing need for flexible and accessible education. The demand for distance learning has been fueled by factors such as technological advancements, changing demographics, and the need for continuous learning.

The pandemic has accelerated this trend, but even prior to it, many educational institutions and businesses were already moving towards more flexible and remote learning solutions. However, the pandemic has undoubtedly brought this issue to the forefront and has further increased the urgency of adapting to new models of education.

All these have given a boost to a growing elearning industry with the elearning market expected to reach $319 billion by 2029, $49 billion of which is forecasted to be the market share for elearning courses.

Currently, there is a lot of new information and is constantly updated given the state of the industry. While reviewing data ourselves, we have browsed through dozens of articles, surveys and publicly available data and compiled a list of current and relevant online learning statistics and facts.

Most data relate to the U.S. market as it remains the main market for elearning, whereas some data come from Europe.

General Elearning Statistics

Since the early 2000s, the online learning market has been growing, with recent events increasing the growth rate exponentially.

The global learning management system (LMS) market size was valued at USD 14.43 billion in 2021, and is expected to grow to 40.95 billion by 2029 with a CAGR of 14.2%. Source: Fortune Business Insights

Almost 30% of people in the EU are taking an online course or using digital learning material.

Source: Eurostat

Roles & Salaries (Averages)

Elearning jobs are on the rise, with new positions being created to cover the needs for designing learning material for educational institutions and corporate training in enterprises.

Here are the average salaries of various elearning positions taken from Glassdoor:

• Curriculum Developer average salary: $104,162 / yr
• Elearning Developer average salary: $94,468 / yr
• ELearning Consultant average salary: $93,519 / yr
• Instructional Designer average salary: $92,821 / yr
• Subject Matter Expert average salary: $66,776 / yr
• Elearning Specialist average salary: $72,906 / yr

eLearning Statistics for Business

Online training, reskilling, and upskilling are essential for any modern business. Most industries are undergoing major changes, making skills or positions that were relevant a few years ago outdated and in need of revision.

Companies find it cheaper to update the skills of current employees or retrain them for other positions over going through an expensive hiring and onboarding process.

Learning & Development

Companies expect to increase their L&D investment and evolve their programs in 2023. While budgets might be affected -with the current economic climate and a possibility for a recession in after-pandemic times-, L&D will probably continue changing and evolving to adapt into the new status quo.

by LinkedIn Learning

• *41% L&D professionals expect their budget for 2023 to increase.
  • *While less professionals expect higher budgets compared with the 48% of 2022, the trend continues to point upwards.
• 77% of L&D leaders agree that L&D has become more cross-functional
• 41% of L&D champion diversity, equity and inclusion with and believe DEI programs will improve employee retetion

Training Priorities

Learning and development initiatives take up a huge responsibility in digital transformation and reskilling the employees. LinkedIn Learning’s survey reveals the top priorities of companies for L&D programs and L&D leaders in 2023:

• Invest in cross-functional relationships
• Hone your focus
• Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Improve your data literacy
• Activate people managers
• Prioritize your own learning

Adult Learning in Europe (EU)

Europe is a diverse collection of countries working together, but at different “speeds.” However, adult learning and corporate learning in the whole European economic area seems to be important for many businesses.

The following information comes from Eurostat public data.

• In 2020, the share of people aged 25 to 64 in the EU who had participated in education or training was 9.2%.
• In 2020, Sweden, Finland and Denmark had the highest shares of people aged 25 to 64 participating in education.

Corporate eLearning Statistics

It costs more to hire a new employee or lose an existing one over training and reskilling a current one. The Work Institute says that the cost of employee turnover is $20,000, while the cost of employee reskilling is under $10,000.

Employee training, upskilling & reskilling

Many surveys focus on the topic of employee turnover -as well as the ongoing economic trend known as the Great Resignation– and how to tackle it with reskilling or upskilling, as it’s a problem faced even by the Fortune 500 companies:

• 79% of L&D pros agree: It’s less expensive to reskill a current employee than to hire a new one (Source: LinkedIn Learning)
• 54% of L&D pros agree that internal mobility has become a higher priority at their organization since COVID-19 (Source: LinkedIn Learning)
• 43% of Gen Z preferred self-directed Learning (Source: LinkedIn Learning)
• 33% of Baby Boomers do not receive tech training but want to (Source: 2019 Docebo Tech)
• 40% of Millennials would prefer to learn soft skills to unlock creativity (Source : 2019 Docebo Tech Skills Gap Survey)

Challenges

Many companies face challenges in retaining the best talent, and they believe education, skills, and growth can help. Even so, measuring the impact of learning in top business KPIs is still a tricky business.

69% of companies say that an inability to measure learning’s impact represents a challenge to achieving critical learning outcomes (Source: 2019 Brandon Hall Group Learning Measurement Study).

• 60% of companies can’t even measure employee engagement effectively.
• 47% of companies can’t measure results due to limitations in time or staff.
• 41% of companies can’t measure results due to problems with proper metrics.
• 39% of companies can’t measure results due to technology limitations.
• 33% of companies can’t measure results due to difficulties in linking learning outcomes.

22.2% of employees leave companies due to career development reasons. One of the main reasons is lack of Growth & Development Opportunities, with an increase of 170% from 2010 to 2018 as the reason for leaving (Source: Work Institute)

As the skill gap is growing and L&D becomes more important, as per LinkedIn Learning’s survey:

• 46% of L&D pros say the skills gap is wider at their organization, 4% higher than 2021
• 49% of L&D pros say executives are concerned that employees do not have the right skills to execute business strategy, 9% higher than 2021

Customer Education Statistics

Businesses do not only care about employee training, but also about customer education (CEd). We witness a rise in learning trends regarding customer education, where CEd programs can act as part of the marketing funnel to increase retention rates as well as:

• Lead generation,
• Branding and thought leadership,
• Onboarding,
• Support.

In some cases, CEd programs can also generate revenue for companies.

570% Return on Investment (ROI) of customer training. For every dollar spent, companies in the Intellum Forrester study earned $6.7, translating to 6.2% of top-line revenue. Intellum Forrester Study on October 2019

Formalized customer education programs in 2019:

• Increase revenue by 6.2%
• Increase retention by 7.4%
• Increase customer satisfaction by 11.6%
• Decreased support costs by 6.1%c

Educational Content

Research by Conductor.com shows that consumers that engage with educational content are more likely to purchase from brands. More specifically:

• Consumers are 131% more likely to buy from a brand immediately after reading a piece of content by the brand, compared to consumers that did not.
• Consumers are 48% more likely to buy from a brand one week after reading a piece of educational content.
• When deciding between 4 brands, 83.6% of consumers who read a piece of educational content by a brand chose that brand when prompted to purchase.

• 78% agree or strongly agree that they found the brand “helpful” immediately after they read a piece of educational content from that brand.
• 64% of consumers feel a brand is trustworthy immediately after they read a piece of educational content from that brand.
• 66% of consumers have positive feelings of a brand immediately after they read a piece of educational content from that brand.

Who carries out Customer Education?

Customer Education (CEd) programs take many forms. While many companies choose to have an in-house team and a platform such as a massive open online course (MOOC) -a way to deliver open learning content online to anyone interested- or a Learning Management System (LMS), others outsource the training program development or even the whole process to outside parties like an agency or a vendor.

This information was taken by Forrester Study on October 2019. The study splits execution to results, where high and low success organizations are split.

HS = High Success Organizations
LS = Low Success Organizations

• Inhouse Team HS 78%, LS 85%
• Agency partner(s) HS 35%, LS 13%
• Dedicated third party vendor(s) HS 63%, LS 43%

Mobile Learning Statistics

The number of mobile learners and the use of smartphones is on the rise. Mobile users are expected to grow from 7.1 billion in 2021 to 7.49 billion in 2025 (Statista).

Mobile devices are now considered part of the classroom experience and come with both challenges and opportunities for learning.

56% of teachers and principals say that their districts/schools provide at least one device per student. EdWeek Survey, June 2020

About two thirds of educators believe the number and type of devices available today has positively impacted teaching. EdWeek Survey, June 2020

64% of students have used smartphones for instructional purposes. EdWeek Survey, June 2020
Here is the breakdown:

• 14% daily
• 20% weekly
• 6% monthly
• 24% a few times in the year
• 37% never

Top 10 ways K12 students used smartphones for instructional purposes:

• As reference tools
• For educational games
• For recording video
• To fill in Surveys/polls
• To Solve Math Problems
• To do their homework
• For reading
• To collaborate with other students in the classroom
• To view art/images
• To record audio

Source of Infographic: EdWeek Survey, June 2020

General eLearning Facts for Public Schools & K12 Statistics

The U.S. Department of Commerce reports 95% of children in the U.S. have access to the internet either through a computer or smartphone (American Community Survey, 2019).

The survey goes into more details for schools:

• 45% of schools reported having a computer for each student.
• 8 of 10 schools rated the overall quality of computers used for teaching and learning as good (52%) or very good (30%)
• 64% of schools said that internet connections in teaching and learning areas of the school were very reliable.
• 70% of schools said that their teachers used technology for activities normally done in the classroom (due to Covid-19).

How technology affects student learning opportunities

Educators and schools responded to a survey on public schools in 2020:

• 33% of schools said they strongly agreed that the way it is used in their school helped students to be more independent and self directed
• 35% said technology helped students to learn at their own pace
• 30% said that technology enabled them to learn collaboratively with peers
• 41% said it helped students learn more actively, and
• 27% percent said it helped students think critically.

Opportunities for Virtual Instruction

Edweek’s Technology in Teaching and Learning Survey asks school principals and district directors to identify virtual instruction opportunities for students at no cost. Below are the top 3:

• 31% opportunities to take online classes in courses not offered by the school/district
• 24% ability to enroll full-time in a virtual school
• 22% a virtual academy operated by our district

Challenges of eLearning

Continuing with NCES’ public school survey for 2020, it seems that teachers are not sufficiently trained in how to use technology:

• 18% of schools believe teachers are not trained enough to use technology for teaching
• 18% of schools believe they have enough training to use technology for teaching
• 34% of schools think that technical support for technology in the school is good enough
• 14% of schools believe that other priorities in the classroom limit the use of technology

65% (almost two thirds) of schools find the lack of time as the main factor for not being able to get teachers to become familiar with new technologies and use them for teaching.

Other challenges for technology adoption in the classroom are:

• 34% answered that outdated computers or software was a moderate or large challenge
• 34% said that inadequate tech support was a challenge.

While K12 educators identify a different set of challenges:

• 56% responded that students are too often off-task
• 38% responded that students lack home access to WiFi/devices
• 36% responded that concerts about too much screen time
• 28% responded that concerns about online student safety

Teacher statistics on Gender & Salary

According to the U.S. Department of Education, there is a discrepancy in the gender of teachers. Teachers in 2017-2018 for K12 are primarily female:

• 76% of teachers are female,
• 24% of teachers male

The numbers change in elementary school, where more female teachers are found:

• 89% of elementary teachers are female
• 11% of elementary teachers are male

And, in secondary education the gap lessens:

• 64% of secondary school teachers are female
• 36% of secondary school teachers are male

Average teacher salary in the U.S. varies from $42,000 to $70,500 depending on experience, location and other factors. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics)

Source of Infographic: EdWeek Survey, June 2020

In-person vs Virtual/Remote learning

Edweek’s survey continues with scarring remarks from K12 educators and leaders. The survey included 460 teachers, 165 principals (or school leaders) & 263 district leaders.

The results coming against virtual and remote learning:

• 95% find virtual/remote learning less effective
• 5% it is about the same level or more effect over in-person learning.
• 80% found screen time worsened student behavior
• 88% of educators feel that screen time increases the learning challenges

Higher Education (College) Statistics

The pandemic’s effect on traditional learning methods has pushed universities to adapt and rethink the traditional classroom, compare the benefits and tackle the challenges of elearning.

General College Statistics

College enrollment (U.S.) totaled 15.9 million undergraduate students nationwide in fall 2020. College Enrollment & Student Demographic Statistics

Below are more statistics on college education in the U.S. by Educationdata.org:

• 4.1 million or 20.7% of students graduate annually
• The number of graduate students declined 4.3% YoY from 2019 to 202066.2% of high school (or equivalent) graduates go on to postsecondary study
• 73.0% of college students at all education levels attend public institutions
• 92.0% of college students are under the age of 24
• 40.6% of 20 to 24-year-olds are enrolled in school

50.8% of all bachelor’s degrees are in 5 fields:

• 19.1% in business
• 11.9% in health professions and related studies
• 8% in social sciences and history 5.9% in psychology
• 5.9% in biological and biomedical sciences

Cost of Online Education vs. Traditional Education

With so many learners moving online, how does physical college education compare with online degrees and which costs are associated with them? (Source: Cost of Online Education vs Traditional Education)

• Private institutions on average charge $58,560 for an online degree vs $148,800 for an in-person degree.
• Students who commute to college for in-person classes pay $3,400 per year in transportation costs an online student wouldn’t have to pay.
• Students who attend in-person classes pay $1,380 dollars more for a campus meal plan than meals made at home.
• The cost of an online degree based on tuition from a public university is roughly $37,920 vs $37,320 for the same degree, in-person.

Average Costs of University

The cost of a 4-year degree has skyrocketed over the past decades, with tuition costs and fees at an all-time high, signaling a rise in revenue for higher education institutions.

The average in-state student attending a public 4-year institution spends $25,487 for one academic year.

The average traditional private university student spends a total of $53,217 per academic year, $35,807 of it on tuition and fees.

The average cost of attendance for a student living on campus at a public 4-year in-state institution is $25,487 per year or $101,948 over 4 years.

Source: College Enrollment & Student Demographic Statistics

Top 10 Most Expensive Private Colleges in the U.S.

Source: College Enrollment & Student Demographic Statistics

Searches for “college online admission form” grow globally year over year by over 100%. Source: ThinkWithGoogle

The below chart from Google Trends shows a quadrupling of searches for elearning which continues until today at 3 times more searches over the pre-pandemic levels.

Elearning Environmental impact

Many early papers expected the rise of elearning to contribute to the green revolution. However, information and research in the topic seems to be outdated, partially as it is difficult to trace and calculate the impact of such a direct industry.

Online learning platforms were welcomed by environmentalists as solutions to the car-infested colleges and expected that elearning platforms would take-over a physical industry. This is still unproven by a large degree.

Here are some of the early papers:

Reduced by 5-10 tons per semester per 100 students who currently commute to university. Source: University of California Paper

Potential to reduce up to 89% of CO2 emissions. Source

Elearning Funding & Startups

In many ways, elearning is a trend in itself, and one that only continues to grow. In 2021, Edtech startups raised $20B in VC funding globally, that’s 1.3x more than the 2020 total.

Mega rounds were the main driver of edtech funding, which accounted for 62%. $100M+ rounds are becoming more frequent and big population centers like India and China may see even more unicorns in the following years as new companies compete for market share.

India and China are leading the recent unicorn valuations with Tutoring startups, but as we can see on the table below, the variety of edtech funded startups is big. We could expect more niche startups to show up and become unicorns in the next few years in niches like: microlearning, gamification, mobile apps, and course platforms focused on the learning experience (LXP).

Top 10 EdTech Unicorns

Investment into European Edtech startups has more than doubled in the last year, making the region one of the fastest-growing globally. Although rounds up to $40M lead the European funding landscape, late-stage investments are increasing their share of capital.

Online Education is Growing!

The rise of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) with platforms such as Udemy, EdX & Coursera are giving place to software solutions that allow entrepreneurs and SMEs to launch their own course like LearnWorlds, while elearning has also become more accessible (and more a need) to a wide range of businesses.

The global market is looking for better solutions to tackle modern problems, and turns to education to accomplish higher revenues through producing educational resources.

As the global population increases, more and more students are seeking education, schooling, and tutoring options, particularly in high-population countries.

Mobile devices, increased internet accessibility, and new technologies in education do not constitute new elearning trends, but a need for more accessible and better education to a mass audience.

Lastly, the pandemic has accelerated the online courses industry, and the effect is expected to grow, with more digital learning tools to create and sell online courses.

Nick Malekos

Nick Malekos is a Senior Digital Marketer in LearnWorlds. He is a results based and well-rounded Digital Marketer with years of experience in the education industry, writer and digital literacy trainer.