College By...Subscription?

Campus Report ^ | October 5, 2009 | Bethany Stotts

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College By...Subscription?

by: Bethany Stotts, October 05, 2009

Is subscription-based online education a successful strategy for remedial education? Burck Smith, co-founder of SMARTHINKING argues in a September publication that “call center” style online courses would prove more affordable for both students and colleges.

“According to one recent report, the cost of offering these courses exceeds $2 billion a year, of which approximately $800 million is borne by students and families in tuition and fees,” writes Burck for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Educational Outlook. He was referring to the 2008 Strong American Schools Diploma to Nowhere report, which was based on 2004-05 Department of Education data and measured the costs of remedial education at public two- and four-year schools. The SAS study, a program of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, found that during the 2004-05 academic year blacks, hispanics, low-income students and students whose parents had a “High school diploma or less” were more likely to be enrolled in remedial courses.

Demand for remedial education is more prevalent at community colleges, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data shows. Forty-two percent of freshman students at public 2-year colleges enrolled in remedial courses in the Fall of 2000. In contrast, between 12 and 24 percent of freshmen at public 4-year colleges enrolled in remedial courses that semester.

“Of students taking developmental courses, data suggest that 40–50 percent will not complete the developmental sequence,” writes Burck. “Of those who do, only 29 percent will complete a bachelor’s degree.”

“According to these numbers, any student who places into developmental education has only a 13 percent chance of eventually receiving a bachelor’s degree.”...

[Brookhaven]

Good. The brick & mortor, going away to college, and sitting in a classroom for years model is no longer needed.

We live in an age when any type of information can be delivered to your desktop. The point of college is to become educated, not the “college experience”.

The old system presents too many barriers (cost, time, travel). The only reason many people today don’t have a college degree is they couldn’t afford to take 4-6 years out of their life and pay tens of thousands of dollars to go to college.