July 8, 2008
Have Gas Prices Pushed Distance-Education Popularity Past a Tipping Point?
“It’s getting to the point of either gas or class,” says Robbie K. Melton, associate vice chancellor for the Tennessee Board of Regents, where this summer the number of students taking online courses spiked 29 percent, in part because of the high cost of buying gas to drive to campus.
Enrollments in online courses were already headed upward at colleges across the country, but some officials say that the gas prices are the last straw for many students deciding between an online or in-person option. That trip to campus just seems like a significant expense with average gas prices more than $4 a gallon. A free article in today’s Chronicle explores the trend.
Will gas prices lead to a new expansion of online programs? —Jeffrey R. Young
Posted on Tuesday July 8, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
Commenting is closed for this article.
Previous: Online Community-College Students in Colorado Get a Break on Textbook Prices
Next: American U. Researchers Publish Guidelines for Fair Use in Web Videos
I’m in an online MBA program (not in the US). Within a week of texts being assigned, illegal copies were posted around the web. Half the students are from developing countries and they couldn’t buy the texts even if they could afford them.
— not a chance Jul 8, 06:55 PM #
I’d like to see the Chronicle do an article on hybrid / distance learning as a way for colleges & universities to save on utilities costs. Utilities costs at our university are astronomical and causing a budget crisis, and I’ve heard that this is the case all over.
Hybrid classes could reduce utilities costs by allowing campuses to close buildings for part of the week – how many buildings and for how long would vary by campus of course. And faculty & commuter students would benefit if they don’t have to come to campus every day.
This kind of change would involve lots of hard decisions and changes in campus culture. But the time is ripe for this change to occur.
— A. Nonymous Jul 9, 10:01 AM #