AN EVALUATION OF ASSOCIATE DEGREE DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN TERMS OF STUDENT OCCUPANCY RATES

This paper will discuss the student occupancy rates between 2007 and 2016 of two-year associate degree distance education programs in Turkey on the basis of both the program and the university and to identify the potential variances. As a result of descriptive analyses, it has been determined that Tour Guiding, Mapping and Cadastral Survey, and Mechatronic programs and Kafkas, Nevsehir Haci Bektas Veli and Celal Bayar Universities have the highest occupancy rates. It has been observed during the statistical analyses that the occupancy rates have not varied based on the period during which the program has been open and the university count. Therefore, the hypothesis that the programs opened by many universities or has accepted students for many years have the highest occupancy rate has not been supported. The university-based analyses have demonstrated that the occupancy rates of universities have varied with regard to the total number of years that distance education programs have been opened. Correspondingly, the universities which have opened the programs in more years than others, those having much experience in other words, have higher occupancy rates.