The U.S. and German education systems both have a recent history of rapid enrolment expansion and struggle with upward educational mobility in comparison to international averages. Both the U.S. and Germany have an education structure that is organized primarily at the state level but German system's early tracking results in proportionately fewer students obtaining a tertiary educational credential. Online education, which is rapidly expanding worldwide, may provide increased access and research suggests similar learning outcomes are achieved, but attrition in online classes is higher than in traditional face to face classes. This study explores the interaction between the online medium and student characteristics in predicting subsequent course outcomes. Specifically, we ask: 1 Which student characteristics exacerbate or mitigate differences in rates of online versus face-to-face course retention and successful course completion? 2 Which characteristics make students more likely to drop-out of college after taking an online course? 3 To what extent do online course outcomes explain subsequent college dropout? If online courses have lower completion rates, they may hinder degree completion. It is therefore essential to identify which students are at highest risk of failing or dropping out of those courses if they enrol in them online, so that interventions can be targeted to those students at highest risk.
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