Bay View Analytics

Bay View Analytics offers a comprehensive suite of consulting services in survey design and statistical research. Our services build on nearly two decades of research design, sampling, survey design, and statistical analysis expertise.

Course Material Costs Shape Major Student Decisions Across Virginia

New findings show course material costs increasingly influence students’ choice of institution, major, and minor

A statewide survey of nearly 10,000 students reveals that the cost of course materials is playing an increasingly influential role in major academic decisions for students across Virginia. The 2025 Virginia Course Materials Survey was conducted by VIVA, Virginia’s academic library consortium, in partnership with Bay View Analytics. The survey examined how course material costs affect students’ educational choices, learning experiences, and academic outcomes across the Commonwealth.

Key findings from the survey include:

Seven in ten students worry about affording required course materials for the current academic term.
The influence of course material costs on students’ choice of institution (53%), choice of major (24%), and choice of minor (13%) has increased since 2021.
Nearly all students (97%) report taking steps to reduce course material costs, including delaying purchases, sharing materials, or seeking lower-cost alternatives.

2025 Virginia Course Materials Survey Reports

Brief summary of the 2025 Virginia Course Materials Survey Key Findings: Executive Summary (pdf)
Detailed analysis of the 2025 Virginia Course Materials Survey, including the Key Findings and associated reports: Results & Findings (pdf)
A detailed analysis of student respondents’ demographic and other characteristics, aiming to identify those whose academic success and well-being are most impacted by costs: Identifying Students Most Impacted by Costs (pdf)
An in-depth examination of Virginia students' opinions and experiences with programs that bundle course materials with tuition or student fees: Student Experience with Inclusive Access (pdf)

Mixed Marks for Classroom Resources in U.S. K-12 Education, 2025

The sixth annual survey of teachers and administrators from Bay View Analytics reveals significant shifts in the K-12 education landscape, highlighting growing awareness and adoption of digital materials and open educational resources (OER).

According to the report, while instruction remains overwhelmingly in-person, print and digital classroom materials are increasingly integrated into classrooms. This trend is reflected in the findings that 81% of K-12 teachers require a textbook for their primary instructional course, with 20% exclusively providing print textbooks and 20% exclusively providing digital textbooks. The survey also reveals that teacher satisfaction with classroom materials remains mixed, with no significant difference based on format used.

With 36% of teachers now aware of OER, a small increase from previous years, there is a growing recognition of the potential benefits of these resources. Grade level plays a significant role in OER awareness, with Pre-K to 3 teachers being the least likely to be aware. Notably, just under half of teachers at grades 9-12 are aware of OER.

Higher Education Faculty Embracing Digital and Open Educational Resources (OER)

The 2024-25 survey results from Bay View Analytics reveal a continued shift towards digital resources in higher education classrooms. The data show that faculty are increasingly adopting online courses and digital materials, with significant growth in the use of Open Educational Resources (OER).

The survey, which collected responses from over 3,400 faculty members across the United States, found that:

Digital resources remain a staple in higher education classrooms, with no significant changes in trends from last year.
The number of faculty teaching fully online courses has increased to 48%, up from 40% last year. This represents a growing trend towards online learning, which is likely driven by the flexibility and accessibility it offers students.

183 countries, 2.7 Million downloads, 23,700 citations: The Impact of the Online Learning Report Series (pdf)

Review Session: 12 Years and 20 Reports Tracking Online Learning

To honor the 25th anniversary of the Sloan Consortium / Online Learning Consortium’s fall conference, Bay View Analytics, with support from the Online Learning Consortium and Science Interactive, has released “Review Session: 12 Years and 20 Reports Tracking Online Learning (pdf).”

This report is a compilation and review of research results and publications on the evolution of online learning in U.S. higher education. The 12 years of reports present a unique historical record of online learning enrollments and trends from 2002-2015. During this period, the project was the sole resource tracking the number of students enrolled in online courses in the U.S., eventually leading to the Department of Education tracking these statistics. In addition to monitoring online enrollments, the reports answered critical questions for academic leaders implementing online offerings for their institutions, including faculty attitudes towards online education, how others viewed the quality of online courses, and the barriers faced when launching online offerings. As online learning grew more common in higher education, the project's research focus and outreach shifted to match developing trends.

Only 1 in 5 say their school is ready for GenAI

While three-quarters of higher-education trustees (83%), faculty (81%) and administrators (76%) agree that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) will noticeably change their institutions in the next five years, community college trustees are more optimistic than their community college counterparts, with (37%) saying their organization is prepared for the change coming compared to just 16% of faculty and 11% of administrator respondents.

Those findings are from the 2023-2024 Digital Learning Pulse Survey (pdf) conducted by Cengage and Bay View Analytics with support from the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE), College Pulse and the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) to understand the attitudes and concerns of higher education instructors and leadership.

What We Do

Educational Research – We are a leader in survey research on current views in K-12 and higher education faculty and institutions, with a focus on open educational resources (OER).
Statistical Research – We offer consulting support across all disciplines and specialize working with biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Download Our Reports

All of our reports are free to download and use. Download our K-12 education, higher education faculty and institutions, open educational resources, research briefs, our statistical tutorials or most recent scientific publications. See recent citations and uses of our work.

Partners

Bay View Analytics works with variety of companies, non-profit foundations, academic groups, reporting agencies, and more. Within our scientific projects, we work with small biotech startups to large pharmaceutical companies, in addition to academic and non-profit researchers.

Presentations

Bay View Analytics participates in multiple conferences. Our presentations cover our most current research on distance learning and open educational resources in US K-12 and higher education, as well as offering an overview of trends over the last decade.