A study conducted at Southwest Virginia Community College investigated the cognitive styles of students who were enrolled in distance education courses for one semester. Because video-based presentations of material severely limit teacher-student interaction, the distance learner must possess self-discipline, self-organization, and self-planning to direct the learning process. The study's hypothesis predicted that field-independent students would be more successful in distance education telecourses than field-dependent students. According to a cognitive test 71 percent of the students were determined to be field dependent. However, at the conclusion of the telecourse, 67 percent passed the course successfully with a C or better. The study concluded the hypothesis was incorrect. Field-independent students are not more successful in asynchronous distance education telecourses than those who are field-dependent. Findings indicate that cognitive style does not have an impact on student success in distance education, and should encourage educators to offer distance education to all types of students. Contains 31 references. (YKH)