The Coming Rise of Online College

By Si Dunn

The cost of a university education is staggering. And it's about to get much worse as revenue-strapped states find themselves forced to sharply raise some of the fees for attending college.

Attending is the operative word here as beleagured parents and students try to figure out how they will afford a good education. It costs a great deal of money to house and educate students on campus and to pay the salaries of professors and support staff. And the costs keep soaring at a time when more and more parents and students are unemployed or underemployed.

Online college courses already are providing at least some cost relief. For example, I live in Texas, and I am now taking an online course for credit from Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass. The online class is costing me nearly $500 less than attending a similar course on campus at a local university just two miles away.

Several reputable universities now offer degrees that can be earned completely or almost completely online.

There are scams, too, of course. And the degrees or class credits from some online schools may not be worth much academically or in the job market.

But America's current economic crisis will force many parents and students to take harder looks at online classes for at least part of a college education. And the quality and acceptability of online education will continue to rise.

Well-known schools such as Ohio University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Colorado, Harvard and many others now offer online courses for credit.

In some cases, you may use your computer to watch videotaped lectures and use email to send in completed assignments or questions for your instructor. Other schools may use various other methods to deliver course materials and lectures online. Old-fashioned correspondence courses also are still available, and these make it possible to handle all of the classwork and tests by mail, without computers and Web and email access.

Some online courses allow more time for completion than a usual on-campus semester. And some classes can be started at any time of the year.

You may not want to pursue an online degree. But taking a few online courses may be a good way to reduce the cost of your college education. And the accessibility of these courses may help you get a good, quick jump on earning a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, or even a Ph.D.

Just be careful to pick a well-known school with online class credits that can transfer from one college or university to another.

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