By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
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THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, March 23, 2017……… One of the benefits of an expansion of online classes in Florida universities is that it gives students more flexibility in balancing their academic loads with extracurricular activities like jobs, student government or clubs.
It has helped a University of Central Florida senior devote the majority of her time this spring to her extracurricular activity: serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives.
As a new House member serving on six committees, Rep. Amber Mariano, R-Hudson, is enrolled in two online classes from UCF. The political science major is taking an online research class where she is developing her senior thesis and another online class called: “Democracy, Capitalism and the Individual.”
Mariano is not alone. A new report that will be reviewed next week by the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the 12 state universities, shows that six out of every 10 university students took at least one online class in the 2015-16 academic year.
