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January 24, 2008, 09:55 AM ET
Online Colleges to Post Effectiveness of Programs
A coalition of colleges that operate online and serve mostly adult students announced Wednesday that it will team up with the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, or WCET, to disseminate data about the effectiveness of its members’ academic programs. The cooperative promotes the use of technology in higher education.
It is expected to develop a Web site, which will open next year, to publish data from the coalition—-called the Presidents’ Forum—-that show students’ graduation rates, what training the institutions provide, and how successful graduates are in their careers, among other things. Michael Offerman, vice chairman of Capella University, said the cooperative will act as an independent examiner of the data, which he said are primarily meant to help prospective students pick the right institutions and programs for their needs. “We’ve got data and we’re going to share it,” said Mr. Offerman. Capella is part of the Presidents’ Forum.
Other institutions in the forum are: American Public University System, Charter Oak State College, Excelsior College, Fielding Graduate University, Franklin University, Kaplan University, Regis University, Rio Salado College, Southwestern College, Western Governors University, and Union Institute & University. The University of Phoenix is considering joining the group.
The partnership between the cooperative and the online colleges is meant to help carry out a program that the colleges announced in October called Transparency By Design.—-Andrea L. Foster
Categories: Distance-Education
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