Comparing Online to Traditional College Tuition Costs
Posted on June 11, 2009 by David Gray
It is with great pleasure that we welcome back David Gray, former UMassOnline CEO and current Senior Vice President for Administration, Finance, & Technology for the University of Massachusetts, as our guest blogger.
I continue to find contemporary articles, written for, about or by education experts, in which the assertion is made that online education is less expensive than a traditional education. Here’s one such article.
It’s primarily a piece about the possibility, as seen by some, that colleges and universities could be the ‘next bubble’ to burst. The logic: Costs have gone up, loans have grown scarce, second mortgages are hard to come by, and students are looking for lower cost alternatives, leaving some expensive institutions at risk. Joseph Marr Cronin, former secretary of education in Massachusetts, is quoted as having predicted that 20 to 40 colleges across the country may very well close in the next few years.
I don’t know about that. But I know this. When articles like this make this statement — …many families are increasingly turning to lower-cost options such as community colleges and online education – they are misleading readers. It may not be intentional. It may be fueled by innocent assumptions. For still others, it could be a subtle attempt to marginalize online education… to question its quality without saying so? But in fact the tuition cost for the online versions of traditional courses, such as those offered through UMassOnline, are in many instances equal to, or a bit higher, than the classroom-based equivalents. It does not cost UMass less to teach a student online. That’s because the same high quality, rich content, and faculty involvement go into a UMassOnline-delivered course as go into a UMass “traditional” course. That may or may not be true for other online education providers. Students need to be discriminating consumers.
I hasten to add that the total cost of an online education may be less than a traditional on-campus education if the student is able to save on board and room and/or commuting time and travel costs. The online student may also find it easier to work while taking online courses. But in the University of Massachusetts and UMassOnline context, credit for credit, dollar for dollar, online and on-campus are on a par.
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