• Students learn individually, moving at their own pace rather than as part of a group.
• Courses can be started at the beginning of any month, rather than at the beginning of a semester.
• Students can set their own schedule for completion of each course, within allowable time limits (typically six months, but students can get extensions).
• Course materials sent through the mail may include some or all of: a study guide, textbook(s), CD-ROM, audiocassettes, videocassettes and home lab kits. Increasingly, courses have online components, either as an optional enhancement or as a requirement.
• Students work their way through the learning materials and complete assignments, returning the assignments by mail, fax, or through the internet.
• All students have access to a tutor, who may be contacted by e-mail or telephone. The tutor gives subject matter assistance and discusses scholarly issues, marks assignments, provides feedback, and helps prepare for examinations.
• Concluding examinations can be taken at many post-secondary institutions across Canada and overseas.

Around 10% of AU’s students follow a hybrid mode of study. They use the teaching materials employed by individualized study students, but meet up as a group in a classroom, with a specific start and end period. Grouped study (formerly called "paced study") students typically go to classrooms in AU’s Learning Centres or at one of the University’s collaborating institutions.

Graduate level programs normally involve studying as part of a group online, with specific start and end dates. Interaction with other students usually takes place through the Internet — which is generally more central to the learning process than in undergraduate individualized study courses.

e-Classes®

A new mode of learning, introduced by the School of Business, is the e-class, which involves study online as part of a group. e-Class students work with fellow students and instructors on a 13-week timetable, starting in September and January.