Distance Education Graduates Earn Less than Campus-Based in China

In a fascinating study Fengliang LI, of Tsinghua University, has found that that graduates in China have a higher income, but those who studied online don't get quite as much. Online college graduates get about 24% less than their campus based counterparts, and for a degree 39% more. However, as the author points out, the lower salary may not be due to the form of education. Distance education provides access for people who could not otherwise obtain a higher education qualification.

Reference

Li, F. (2018). The Expansion of Higher Education and the Returns of Distance Education in China. The International Review Of Research In Open And Distributed Learning, 19(4). doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v19i4.2881