There was a time when most students’ higher education experiences looked pretty similar — soon after graduating high school, young adults would attend a brick and mortar institution where they’d file into classrooms and lecture halls alongside a handful of likeminded peers.

Now the college experience may include many more scenes than a classroom with desks or a lecture hall with stadium seating. It may also look like the kitchen table of a busy dad who is logging into a learning management system (LMS) after putting his toddlers to bed (and then putting them to bed again). Today’s classroom may also exist in a quiet corner of a buzzing coffee shop, where an aspiring career-changer responds to discussion board questions after working eight long hours at her day job.

Student demographics are changing, and the higher education landscape has begun to transform so that it can better support the needs of the average learner. As a result, online course offerings have grown steadily over the years, and an increasing number of colleges and universities now offer hybrid classes and programs.