This article is about how online education might affect
higher education. Stanford economist Caroline Hoxby responded to this issue
stating that “For top schools, the best bet may simply to preserve their
exclusivity.” I agree that top schools must preserve their exclusivity in order
to maintain their current business model, but I wonder if the increased popularity
for online courses is an indicator that the system needs a change. Competition
between universities for professors and attracting students at elite universities
is very expensive, as the article explains. Costs of education and costs for
universities have increased tremendously. NPR’s Planet Money reports in the
article that “In 1984, it cost $10,000 a year to go to Duke University. Today,
it’s $60,000 a year.” I would be curious to find out if the quality of
education has increased at the same rate. As time goes on, new technologies
emerge and more information is available, which has strengthened our education
system and also changed the traditional way of educating. Online courses are a
new method of education that has been embraced by our society due to its lower
costs and flexibility. Better institutions will remain “better” because they
will offer more both in online and classroom settings. Whether online or in the
classroom, the price of education should be relative to the quality offered.
Elite institutions will remain elite if they continue to offer the highest
level of education to the students accepted and if the competition for
acceptance remains challenging.
4 comments:
The cost of higher education has been in the center of political debate for some time now. The cost of education is going up annually and disproportionally federal financial aid and donations are higher in the elite institutions that already have abundance of cash. An introduction of online education offers new much more flexible and often significantly cheaper way to receive education. With that said online education brings less value than the actual university experience and while it might become even more popular I do not anticipate it becoming a major factor in the quality and exclusivity of the university.
Is there a big change in people who get an online education verse an in person one? There are always going to be faults but is it big enough to make people keep to one or the other? Will our next generation either be looking at top notch schools or online ones? What will happen to OWU and other colleges, whither away or lower their costs?
It would be interesting to look at company perceptions of applicants who have a degree from an online university versus a traditional one. If price provides information, the increase in price to attend Harvard or Stanford would lead us to believe there is a significant difference in quality.
There is definitely a stigma surrounding online education and degrees in America, but their popularity is steadily rising. There have been strong advertising campaigns recently attempting to promote the power of receiving a degree from an online education program and that it rivals the true college experience. Ultimately, I agree with Nazar in regards to the idea that the physical campus experience will, in most cases, be preferred over online programs and will not "threaten" the exclusivity of already established colleges or universities.
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