In 1985, the university began a distance learning program by mailing VHS tapes to students; this was the forerunner to Liberty University's current online program. When high-speed Internet connections became more widespread around 2005, Liberty began to offer online courses to a larger adult population. Online students constitute the overwhelming majority of the university's students and revenue, "subsidizing the university" and making them "a killing", according to faculty members, despite the "steep drop-off in quality from the traditional college to the online courses".