It goes without saying that college students would love to pay less for courses and degrees amid skyrocketing costs for a degree. Some experts see the potential in the near future for cost savings on tuition through online course work, and a handful of nonprofit institutions are paving the way to a new model that costs less without sacrificing quality.
But others caution that assuming online education, credit for credit, will be cheaper is unwise. The fact is, the cost of quality online college courses is close to the same as that for traditional courses.
Because online courses serve many adult students who are trying balance work, family and other demands on their time, convenience is the main reason they’re chosen — and to them, saving time is saving money.
Former Princeton University President William Bowen has spent a career studying the nexus of higher education and economics. As he sees it in his new book, “Higher Education in the Digital Age,” online education could be a remedy for what he calls “cost disease,” or the often-astronomical price of a degree today.
Bowen, a convert who was once skeptical, now believes online technology and the understanding of how to use it has matured enough to help lower those costs for students without sacrificing the quality of learning. In the first study to provide hard evidence that online courses can and do equal the learning quality of “on-ground” courses, conducted by the nonprofit think tank ITHAKA, the research did not include numbers on what students might save.
Mary Hawkins, president of Bellevue University in Nebraska, says the school has not seen savings for online students but adds that the streamlined nature of the university and its programs can save students nontuition-related money, compared with traditional schools. The university has specialized in education for adults since its outset and offers an increasing array of online courses aimed at that audience.
“There is a perception that offering online courses saves on infrastructure costs — and there may be some savings in not building additional classrooms,” Hawkins says, “but staff and faculty workspace and resources need to grow in proportion to online enrollment. As well, online courses entail investment in technology, curriculum development, faculty training, support services and administrative services. Engaging curriculum requires good design and expertise in technology.
“The problem lies in all the amenities (at) a public university hiking up cost,” Hawkins adds. “We do save our students money they might spend on a traditional school. Bellevue is unique in that it has a campus, and students can enjoy face-to-face interaction — but (they) can apply money toward quality of education because there are no extravagant amenities. … You’re not going to a university to join a spa; you’re going there to learn so that you can have a fulfilling career.”
But in any online scenario, Hawkins says looking at online instruction from a cost perspective “is not the right lens. Access is a better lens. There are many barriers to the adult working student, including distance to a university, work schedule, commitments to family and even health or physical limitations.”
For those considering online courses and weighing the costs, Hawkins has these tips: Apply due diligence and research when choosing a program. Investigate pricing by looking at the Department of Education’s list of institutions with the lowest net price (collegecost.ed.gov). Once you choose a path, stay on it (jumping around adds to overall cost and debt). Check if credits from other schools will transfer — a sure money saver. See if your employer offers tuition reimbursement, which is important to adult learners looking for that one class to improve their skill set and get a promotion.
Online students can also invariably save on auto expenses, room and board, additional fees that some traditional universities charge beyond basic tuition costs, and time — which counts for adult students doing the juggling act with their lives. For them, time literally is money.
Brett Coup, associate dean of instructional technology at the College of DuPage community college in Glen Ellyn, echoes Hawkins.
“I’m not sure that ‘cost savings’ is what we’re after,” he says, adding that it’s more important to College of DuPage that on-ground and online students receive the same quality, level of engagement and accountability. And in the near future, he says, each program will benefit from the elements of the other, the hybrid that Bowen foresees.
Still, compared with other institutions, especially for-profits, “we’re a lot cheaper (online),” Coup says. “We’re going to be cheaper than some comparable courses or programs elsewhere.”
Fred Hurst, senior vice president for extended campuses at Northern Arizona University, says “monetarily, online education programs are almost without exception less expensive” than those at traditional universities.
“Most online education is delivered with the same model as traditional classroom education, with the faculty serving the same role and, therefore, the cost is similar,” Hurst says. “The faculty member salary is by far the greatest incremental cost of offering a course. Significant cost savings with online (programs) can be achieved by changing the faculty roles. In our Personalized Learning degree program, we have done just that. The faculty member in our program works directly with students individually as the student needs help understanding a concept.”
For example, the Personalized Learning online program costs $2,500 for a six-month “subscription,” while a traditional degree program can be upward of $10,000 a year just for tuition, he says. Is that apples to apples? You’ll have to do your homework to find out. The implication by Hawkins and Hurst is that online programs can be designed for maximum efficacy while cutting out the traditional fat.
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Northern Arizona is the first public university to offer a competency-based accredited online degree program (Personalized Learning) that allows credits for experience.
In another example, nonprofit Western Governors University, based in Salt Lake City, is gaining national attention for its focus on adult students. Its key to controlling costs is similar to that of Northern Arizona: The school measures competency that determines whether the student moves on, and takes previous knowledge into account. The result can be a college degree in half the time it takes nationwide. The tuition is less than that for a traditional university because, like Northern Arizona, Western Governors delivers customized programs to individual students in a new online-based model.
This all boils down to the fact that online education done right is complicated — and the answer to the question of bang for your buck? It depends.
“Few schools, departments and professors can agree on what would seem to be a simple question: ‘What makes a quality online class?'” says Jamie Littlefield, a Utah-based online course designer and teacher.
“Be wary of virtual schools that are priced ridiculously low,” Littlefield adds. “Always check to make sure that an online or traditional college program is properly accredited before taking out your checkbook.”