At the end of World War II, the returning soldiers went to a campus to obtain a degree. Today, they can pursue that degree while still enlisted. The number of returning World War II soldiers made significant impacts on the entire campus from academics to social life. What impact will virtual students have on both the campus and the academic programs? Many of the WWII students attended on government financing. Today, with the cost of postsecondary education rising exponentially, the military will again infuse a significant amount of cash into the education economy. Only this time it will be in virtual space.

The various branches of the U.S. military combined have issued contracts for more than half a billion dollars to develop e-learning programs for their personnel. Some branches are providing their students-wherever they are located, outside of combat zones-with laptops. Most of the providers of these programs are accredited, traditional academic institutions. Even these traditional academic institutions are seeing e-learning change their own campuses. 

In recent years, K-12 graduates were expected to follow the path towards a career by extending their education to K-16 through attendance at a traditional postsecondary campus. Today, this might mean a liberal arts institution, a technical or a vocational college, or a community college. While two-year institutions are seen as a path to a career, there is a sense that one cannot consider these as terminal degrees. Life-long learning looms large, as does completion of a four-year degreed program beyond K-12. 
A major U.S. university evaluated its distance education enrollment and found that students who lived on campus dominated (electronic) attendance in certain classes. Further investigation determined that the campus-based students preferred the convenience of the virtual, asynchronous format to getting up for early morning classes. All the arguments regarding the essential value of in-class interactions and the idea of a "community" seemed to be muted by the prospect of having to arise early to attend a required 8:00 a.m. class. 

U.S. News has been able to identify more than 2,000 licensed, degree-granting institutions that offer courses, certificates, and degrees via a variety of electronic means from simple CD-ROMs to video courses and via the Internet. E-learning is not just for the returning adult or the rebel who has found a clever way out of the 8:00 a.m. Western Civilization course. These institutions are simply attempting to serve the highly computer-literate Sesame Street generation and the graying life-long learners. The principle drivers of this educational change come from below.