Posted on 02/15/2014 2:13:10 PM PST by usalady
University of the People is a tuition-free online institution that aims to reach all students that wish to obtain a college education. It is fully accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council, a national accrediting group. It offers courses that include business administration and computer science programs.
http://www.saylor.org/
Saylor also offers whole programs online with from what I have seen a little less propaganda style videos. MIT also has all of its course notes and syllabi online the information and knowledge is out there for the taking. The higher education bubble is on the way out
Bookmark. Free University, now no longer a dream?
Saving
I have been doing research and writing about how the Internet was going to change education for many years so I expect to see many innovative way of presenting classes coming very soon.
The student loan bubble is already bursting as more of the loans going into default. A skilled trade certification is becoming more valuable than a college degree in such things as Women’s Studies.
A few do aim for degrees in these fields, but then their only hope of using it is to get a teaching job, just perpetuating the cycle
______________
The worst words out of the mouths of your college aged kid is that professor left-wing-nut thinks that they should change their major from nursing, engineering, finance etc to Womens studies, English etc, because they think I have a real future in the field.
I was able to short circuit that with my kids but have met others who bought the ploy.
Not quite free. Fair enough, as there are costs involved and some barrier is needed to prevent greedy/gratuitous signups.
“Application Processing Fee
Applicants are charged an Application Processing Fee in the range of $10 to $50 based on their country of residence. Students unable to pay these processing fees are eligible to apply for a scholarship.
Exam Processing Fee
Students are charged an Exam Processing Fee of $100 per end-of-course exam. Students unable to pay this processing fee are eligible to apply for a scholarship.”
Bump
It is no longer a dream. There have been indications that I wrote about in December 2012, “Education in U.S. losing it traditional control....”
www.examiner.com/article/education-u-s-losing-its-traditional-control-as-entrepreneurs-gain-ground
while at the same time university administrators were ignoring what was happening.
This is hugh and series! Imagine universities having to compete. They’ll hang on by using the accreditation process to exclude newcomers, but in the long run it’ll be a losing battle.
Absolutely...For the most part they'll go the way of the buggy whip....
It's the wave of the future, no question.
Bflr
I post not to criticize this school (I know nothing about it and have never heard of it), or its DETC affiliation.
DETC has achieved some measure of recognition, but it is still not a generally accepted “regional accreditation agency” for college credit purposes.
These credits are often not accepted by regionally-accredited colleges (for transfer, for further degrees).
Distance education can serve a valid purpose, especially for somebody who is required to travel a lot or maybe has a disability that makes it difficult to attend a regular college. And, some distance education programs (accredited or not) can be quite good quality.
There are many distance ed programs that are also fully accredited (by a recognized ‘regional accreditation agency’ in USA, or as recognized depending on country the college is located, such as UK does it slightly differently but it is easy there to find out the ligitimate, recognized colleges).
I do not know about this school, whether it has high or low quality instructional programs. But I would definitely recommend a prospective student check further whether its programs and its DETC accreditation will best serve the student’s best interests and future study and/or employment plans... before signing up.
Note also that all states have public community colleges, most with very low fees (and usually with either a generous fee waiver program or grants or scholarships for anyone who can’t afford the low fees). Most public community colleges are fully “regionally accredited” so that most regular coursework there will usually transfer to other colleges and universities. (Many community colleges will not accept DETC coursework for transfer INTO the community college, however.)
Note also that many employers do not recognize unaccredited college work, while some give it some weight but still discount it in the hiring and promotional processes. Having a discounted credential is not the best strategy for most people, especially in a bad economy like at present.
Some employers will give a DETC program graduate some weight, others will not.
A student is almost always better off taking a fully regionally-accredited course of studies, whether in person on a regular campus or, if necessary, via distance ed.
Happy day,
fhc
ps: here are the generally-recognized “regional accreditation agencies” and the states each serves, fyi:
http://www.chea.org/Directories/regional.asp
All I am saying is, if a student has a choice between a regionally-accredited course of studies and DETC, s/he is normally better off taking the regionally-accredited program. If a student’s only choices are between DETC and nothing, take the DETC (but don’t expect full weight when later trying to transfer the coursework to universities or colleges, and don’t expect full weight either when applying for many jobs, though some employers will honor DETC credentials especially for certain trades that generally do not have regionally-accredited programs on offer).
All the best,
fhc
Btt
Good information.
If you accessed my article at
you will see a video that includes Yale as one of the sites that are associated with this online university.
I haven’t checked this out as yet as the announcement that appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education was only that it had received accreditation.
Is another online group offering free classes. I haven’t really had time to look into it much yet, but feel free to check it out.
all I saw in the announcement was DETC as “accreditator”
While DETC has achieved some recognition it is still a “red flag” (sorry to have to put it that way, perhaps that’s a bit harsh too) for most academically-savvy people. And, most universities will not accept DETC coursework or credentials if presented to them.
Beyond that, I have nothing I can add. I have a higher regard for DETC than do most universities, I do not wish to knock it or the new school you posted. I just saw the DETC instead of one of the more widely-accepted “regional accreditation agencies” and so thought it necessary to post a cautionary note is all. People are smart and they can check things out for themselves...
thanks for understanding
Although there seems to be an Obama administration interest in free education however it would be the American taxpayer picking up the check for the tuition.
As I wrote earlier the $1 trillion student loan bubble is about to burst as the defaults increase.
My research indicates that enrollment at private colleges has fallen 9% which could put some of them out of business.
Another topic of interest is how remedial classes at colleges are increasing because unprepared students are admitted in order to fill the empty classrooms.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.