Will the traditional institution of college give way to an online university as a standard? How far away?

Question

I went to college for 2 years and had to withdrawal for financial reasons. I am very successful at what I do, but I plan to finish my degree over the next six part time.

I see all these advertisements for online university. Most local colleges seem to be offering more classes every year online.

It causes me to wonder how far away we are from most degrees being earned online as a standard and not the exception?

It would probably help (in theory) to cut down the cost of higher education as it becomes more accepted.

You might think at first that people will not get as much from learning onlline as they do in the lecture or class setting. But most learning is done from text.. And.. I remember when I was younger in college I was a little distracting on the social scene of the campus and probably should have spent more time in my studies.

Would also be more environmentally friendly too.

Answer 1

Ten years ago, I heard a lot of concern about this at colleges. Now, I think most realize that the audience reached is a completely different one, and we are not really losing students to online learning to any significant extent. Colleges aren't losing enrollment, but they are looking to online learning to expand their markets.

First of all, it is not true that most learning is done from the text. If that were the case, colleges would have gone away with the advent of affordable publishers of books, not just online universities. If you went to institutions at which this was the case, then you didn't go to very good ones!

Secondly, as well as cutting costs, you are again ignoring quality. A few years ago, I went to an alumni association meeting at which the Dean spoke about why they had made the decision NOT to go into online learning. He said that they had done a study, and had calculated that to produce one course at a level which was equivalent to that they offered on campus would cost them $500,000, and they could use it exactly twice before the material would become obsolete. Obviously, the majority of schools now offering courses online are not at that level, but then neither are their brick-and-mortar courses at the level of that institution. Most of the brick-and-mortar institutions I've spoken with have admitted that their online courses aren't as good as those held on campus, but they do it to meet demand so that they can increase enrollments.

Another issue is the fact that most traditional students aren't self-motivated enough to follow through on online courses. The only thing that makes school bearable for many is that they can get together with their friends or meet new people in a way they are not doing online. I don't foresee that going away.

In short, I think that while there will continue to be a growth (and hopefully an improvement) of online offerings, I don't see an imminent danger for traditional colleges. Most students want to go full-time and get through quickly, rather than taking twice as long to finish (witness the struggle in part-time MBA programs these days; students are getting younger and more full-time than they ever were before). I think another factor is that there are so few good jobs available for those who haven't graduated from college yet; high school graduates want more to do than just to sit in their parents' living rooms doing online homework. I don't see that changing, so there will certainly be a market for traditional colleges in the near future.

Answer 2

The quality of online education surpasses traditional learning in many cases. For example, a study done by the US of Department of Education found that college students learned more in online classes than they did in a classroom setting.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/study-finds-that-online-education-beats-the-classroom/

In truth, the only people that have negative attitudes towards online education are people who never legitimately took college level online classes from regionally accredited non-profit Universities. Unlike them, I have taken classes both on-campus and online, so I can honestly say that college level online classes can be better than traditional classes in many cases.

Answer 3

I don't see this happening for a while...I just took two online courses and both the students and the professors were somewhat disappointed in the lack of intimacy of a classroom...we all thought we basically learned like nothing...yes it's much more comfortable to be at home but a problem with online classes is also that you don't meet new people, so it advocates a somewhat lonelier lifestyle

Answer 4

Certain majors (such as medical & sciences) require expensive or extensive amounts of equipment that will keep colleges around for a long time. There's also the college social experience and networking opportunities that many students desire.