By 2008, over 4 million students were participating in on-line learning at institutions of higher education in the United States. Many higher education, for-profit institutions, now offer on-line classes. About half of private, non-profit schools offer eLearning software programs. Private institutions may become more involved with on-line presentations as the cost of instituting such a system decreases.
Properly trained staff must also be hired to work with students on-line. These staff members need to understand the content area, and also be highly trained in the use of the computer and Internet. eLearning is rapidly increasing, and online doctoral programs have even developed at leading research universities.