Chimera of Affordable Online Education

I certainly think they may have a point there, it has to be accepted that online universities do serve a large segment of the student population which cannot attend university full time, it gives them the convenience of studying from their home and the courses are priced well below the levels of fee charged for the full-time version of the program conducted on campus. But is online education affordable to the average student, put in another way, is online education the answer for someone who is on the lookout for an affordable masters program, the answer is a yes and a no.

Yes, a program does become much more affordable, once it is off the manicured lawns of a sprawling campus.

No, online education is still not the answer, because the costs remain high due to the technology that online universities use to deliver their programs.

Well then, what’s the answer you may ask, the answer is distance education, pure and simple. Distance education as we know it traditionally. A student applies to study on a course, gets selected, university sends his study material to his address ( or names the text books to be purchased by the student) with contact email of the faculty in charge of his particular course, student studies the course material/text books , interacts with other distance learning students through the university website discussion forum and clarifies any doubts by email with his tutor, submits assignments by email and gives an online multiple choice final exam for each of the courses completed. Results are announced on the university website and students’ degree and transcripts are couriered to his address.

As you can see, there is no synchronous conducting of classes, no live streaming videos of lectures being held on campus, no conference calls with lectures, any high tech tomfoolery that only ends up raising the fees students have to pay should be avoided.

The answer is distance learning with technology being kept to a bare minimum. This will cut the flab off most programs and to prove my point, I give the example of a university that manages to do this very well. Breyer State University, a one year distance learning course there costs about $ 6000, and this is the fee range that is affordable to the average student. However, it has to be noted that this university is unaccredited. The degree awarded may have limited utility in the job market. The reason they remain unaccredited is the high costs of fees charged by the accreditation agencies that are recognized by the US dept of Education. Believe it or not, it costs upwards of $1.5 million per year to maintain an accreditation with these agencies. It is no wonder that the accredited universities charge such high fees as they pass along the costs incurred for accreditation onto the students.

The problem of affordable education can be solved if both the universities and the government work together. A university like Breyer State has come up with an affordable solution; a wonderful combination of distance learning and latest technology like email, discussion forums and online final exams, technology is kept to a bare minimum and hence keeping costs at check. This results in saving of $22,000 for the student.

(Comparing NCU and BSU costs)

That’s a whole lot of flab off the students back!!!!!

The only sticking point is accreditation, and I can see a steely grin from the accredited university representative. This can be sorted out by the government if it can bring down the costs of accreditation. This will result in more universities seeking to offer much more affordable courses without trying to factor in the huge costs of annual accreditation fees charged by the accreditation agencies that are recognized by the US Dept of Education.

This two pronged approach can get the student out of the debt trap that he falls into while trying to pursue an education he cannot afford.

This two pronged approach helps universities to offer affordable and accredited education to students.