I have noticed that many online colleges charge nearly the same price as if you were going to college in person. Considering that a person taking classes online isn't able to have access to the resources of a traditional university, such as the library, student recreation center, professor lectures and so on I can't help but wonder where that extra money is going. Possibly it is because online education is still so new that it hasn't "come into its own" yet and schools are still charging based on their traditional pricing methods. I think that it is important that at some point in the near future that more legitimate colleges offer online courses at affordable prices so that students can obtain a decent education that fits into their life.
http://rickdane.info/content/taking-college-classes-online-may-work-you-be-careful-how-much-you-pay
Hi rickdane,
The language you use is interesting. I'm curious, what do you mean when you say, "I think that it is important that at some point in the near future that more legitimate colleges offer online courses at affordable prices so that students can obtain a decent education that fits into their life."
From your point of view, what makes a college or university "more legitimate" than others?
Have you considered that professors must be paid more to teach online courses because more students can be enrolled in a class than in a traditional class? And the administrative costs are quite a bit as well, considering the technical support that is necessary to ensure that someone is available to assist students when a podcast or streaming video isn't available or if a server goes down.
Universities that offer distance learning do typically offer library services, and your courses have instructors just like courses do on campus. It's true that you don't get the gym, but at many schools neither do you have a student activities fee.
That said, it's true that there's less of a facilities expense with distance learning than there is for learning on campus, and institutions don't always pass those savings on to their distance learning students. But many do -- for example, many public community colleges and universities offer in-state tuition to distance learning students, even those who are out of state. And many of the least expensive online schools are those that are entirely online. (I'm thinking of some of the nationally accredited ones here.)
Mostly, though, I think that at least with those schools that market heavily, they charge the maximum that federal student loans will cover. Since many students don't take the long view when it comes to student loan debt, that's a successful strategy.
-=Steve=-
rickdane: I have noticed that many online colleges charge nearly the same price as if you were going to college in person. Considering that a person taking classes online isn't able to have access to the resources of a traditional university, such as the library, student recreation center, professor lectures and so on I can't help but wonder where that extra money is going. Possibly it is because online education is still so new that it hasn't "come into its own" yet and schools are still charging based on their traditional pricing methods. I think that it is important that at some point in the near future that more legitimate colleges offer online courses at affordable prices so that students can obtain a decent education that fits into their life. http://rickdane.info/content/taking-college-classes-online-may-work-you-be-careful-how-much-you-pay
tedmeister:Perhaps, in time, increased competition will bring online tuition prices down.
Quite right, and I'll go further and say that low tuition schools like Penn Foster and Ashworth show that's already happening.