No gas, no class? With prices topping four dollars a gallon, that's the word problem of the day for many college students who are facing the mounting cost of commuting. According to a recent New York Times article, many of these commuters are coming up with the same solution: online classes. Indeed, colleges across the country are reporting record numbers of students enrolling in their Internet courses. Administrators who were quoted say they're aware of the correlation between rising fuel prices and spiking online enrollment.
But the problem remains a trick question. One flaw in the formula, warned some interviewed officials, is the limited offering of subjects and courses. Although more and more requirements can be met via satellite learning, few traditional colleges and universities have degree programs that can be completed one hundred percent online. Another issue is access. Students in particularly remote or rural areas are lacking the necessary digital capability. Without high-speed Internet access, these students are still having to shuttle to and from campus.
At a time when transportation often costs more than tuition, schools are upping their efforts to train faculty and develop more online offerings. Some schools are adjusting course schedules, so that fewer daily trips are required. Others are waiving registration fees. Two-year community colleges are especially wary, as the majority of their students are commuters, many shouldering the additional financial responsibilities of families and mortgages.
Given the variables, it seems unlikely that an easy answer will be found in time for fall semester. Right now, say school officials, waiting lists for online courses are averaging twice the number they've been in the past. Students are clearly looking for relief — concludes the NYT piece. And now it's the schools that are being asked to show their work.
You can read the New York Times article "High Cost of Driving Ignites Online Classes Boom" at the below Web address:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/education/11colleges.html