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1) Online universities charge tuition, too—in some cases, more than bricks-and-mortar institutions. Check out West Virginia University, a Research Class I institution that has produced 29 Rhodes Scholars. (More than Pitt, PSU, and Carnegie-Mellon combined.) Check out Slippery Rock University, which has just been ranked #5 in the country for its combination of high quality and low cost.
2) In what ways are admissions criteria overrated and unnecessary? Put another way, why should precious resources (specifically, the time and effort of professors) be wasted on students who do not have what it takes to make it?
3) Actually, they will, after you have shown that you really have turned your life around. Many institutions of higher learning, especially land-grant colleges and universities, offer programs specifically designed for those who did not do well in high school.
4) How do you define and measure “quality”? This massive assertion is offered to us sans a single shred of proof.
5) More massive assertions offered without a shred of proof. No refutation of this point is necessary.
6) Online education is one way to educate a large number of people. It may or may not be the best way. A great deal would depend on how one defines “best.” One question that comes to mind almost at once is, “How does online education propose to handle the issue of the student-teacher relationship?” Another is, “On what do you base the claim that online education enables people to attend ‘irrespective of their background and financial constraints’?”
7) I am a graduate of West Virginia University. The sky is the limit when you study at WVU. WVU does not discriminate in any of the ways you mentioned. Any institution that chose to engage in discriminatory practices would soon find itself in court.
8) Same for bricks and mortar—I attended WVU and received a BA and an MBA while working full-time.
9) At WVU, any student who can handle the workload can take a degree in virtually any major; can also take a minor in another field; and can take a double major.
10) I disconcur. Online education offers an alternative that may be more attractive to some particular set of potential students. In fact, WVU’s innovative Executive MBA program (which embodies distance-learning elements) already shown the world what education can be, and what it can become.
And another thing…
I believe that, for the overwhelming majority of high-school graduates about to enter college for the first time, there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction with their fellow students—both in and out of the classroom.
Carrie — Love this idea! But I do question your #6, as most colleges and universities (for-profit or not) are still charging far more than they have to for their online degree programs. Once the infrastructure is in place (which is the highest cost related to any online educational program), recurring costs are primarily the result of hosting, maintenance & security (SW, HW, and personnel), and those leading the sessions.
One three-credit MBA course at the University of Phoenix, for example, is close to $2200… a three-credit course for an undergrad course will run someone $1740. Can most people afford that? Especially those traditionally unable to afford a graduate degree? I’m not convinced they can.
That there are for-profit educational institutions such as the University of Phoenix not only able to survive but thrive should be an indication to us all that those tuition fees can certainly be reduced, benefiting many more people — especially those most needing higher education degrees.
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I actually NEED a proper classroom setting to learn languages faster and better. I’ve tried learning online at chat sites and stuff, but it didn’t work for me. Also, Having a proper classroom setting over a conference call online ensures that the teacher can have every student participate. For me, it was being able to talk to my friends and teacher face-to-face that helped me so much.
And, conversations aren’t quite as funny if you can’t hear the call too well, you have to type it all up, or you know, there are no classmates!
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