Will Online Colleges Ever Replace “Traditional” Schools?
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Online education is gaining in popularity, but could this spell the
end of traditional “brick and mortar” colleges?
Imagine that you are training to become a nurse. You can do that
online at the University of Phoenix, which has a highly acclaimed
distance education program. Opportunities like this certainly seem
promising, especially considering that online degree programs allow
you to study at your own convenience and tend to be less expensive
than the typical 4-year ground college. But should these traditional
universities be worried about the rise of online education?
Many people think they should, including Kevin Carey, the Policy
Director for Education Center. In an article he recently published in
the Washington Monthly, he compares traditional colleges to magazines
and newspapers, which have lost significant funds due to the rise of
the Internet.
The statistics seem to back up his claim: out of all the college
students in the US, four million took at least one online class in
2008, and about one in ten were enrolled in completely online
programs.
The Distance Education at Postsecondary Institutions study found that
66% of degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the US had
offered online and partial online distance courses in 2006-2007
academic year. Why such a high demand for online education? Two main
factors are affecting this trend: students’ need for flexible school
schedules that allow them to work while attending class, and the fact
that online colleges offer more educational opportunities to a broader
range of people.
These students are defined as “non-traditional”—people who do not want
a typical undergraduate experience due to family, work, or other
circumstances—but they are quickly becoming the norm. These students,
who are not the typical 18 to 22 year-old students, tend to be more
mature and focused than their younger undergraduate counterparts,
which makes them ideal candidates for online education.
A report by the US Department of Education concluded that, “on
average, students in online learning conditions performed better than
those receiving face-to-face instruction”.
The University of Phoenix, one of the most acclaimed online schools
out there, published its ground-breaking Annual Report in 2008. The
University of Phoenix was the first accredited university to provide
online education in the US, and is currently the largest private
university in North America. Its report reveals that Phoenix students
frequently perform better than students at elite universities. Data
also shows that online students outperformed their traditional
counterparts in online and ground programs.
President Dr .William Pepicello also mentions the fact that, as a
private university operating in the public sector, Phoenix “pays back
monies to taxpayers for every student it educates as opposed to the
costs accrued to taxpayers by its tax-exempt public and non-profit
counterparts in higher education”.
With facts like these, it is no wonder that online education programs
have grown exponentially in the past 10 to 15 years. However, not all
online colleges are alike. Unlike Phoenix, Kaplan University, or
Everest University, some institutions like StraighterLine are not
accredited and don’t offer degrees. Instead, it offers a few courses
that are connected to degree-granting colleges. What appeals to most
StraighterLine students is the cost: as little as $99 a month in
tuition fees.
How is online education so cheap and accessible? In order to study
online, all you really need is internet access. All course content is
electronic, meaning that expensive textbooks aren’t always a
necessity. This presents a problem to brick-and-mortar colleges, which
make a good deal of revenue from enormous introductory courses. When
similar intro classes are offered by online colleges at a fraction of
the price, it gives them less of a competitive edge.
Carey explained that, “If enough students defect to companies like
StraighterLine, the higher education industry faces the unbundling of
the business model on which the current system is built.”
Although we can’t really predict if the end is close for the
traditional colleges, experts all agree that the face of higher
education is rapidly changing.