SJSU partners with Udacity and SUNY announces Open SUNY

[Daithi]

I came across two news items I thought might be of interest.

The first is that San Jose State University has announced a pilot program with Udacity to offer credit for three of their MOOCS at a cost of $150 a course. I believe you can take the courses for free, but then you don't get the credit. The courses include Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, and Elementary Statistics (I'd did these through ALEKS which is cheaper and faster). It also looks like the courses are going to be limited to just 100 students, and that half the slots are going to SJSU students, but the other slots are going to non-matriculating students. Exams will be proctored online. I hope this is just the beginning and that we will soon start seeing a better selection of MOOCS being offered for credit online.

The other item is that the State University of New York (SUNY) is announcing the launch of Open SUNY. This fall they will be offering three online degree programs through Open SUNY, and in 2014 that will expand to ten online degree programs. The details on this program are a little sketchy, but they are expecting to reach 100,000 students within three years and to become one of the largest online education presences in the nation. (We'll see.)

[scorched]

Yeah I got this good news today too.

I am hoping this trend continues, first with coursera and now udacity, then more to come to rid the world of for profit education companies.

[ShotoJuku]

...the launch of Open SUNY. This fall they will be offering three online degree programs through Open SUNY, and in 2014 that will expand to ten online degree programs....

Hmmmm....a rival for Excelsior and perhaps the launch of "the big FOUR?"

[IrishJohn]

Hmmmm....a rival for Excelsior and perhaps the launch of "the big FOUR?"

I'd be tempted to go for another degree through them if they do become a rival of the Big 3!

[rvm]

... then more to come to rid the world of for profit education companies.

Why do you want to "rid the world of for profit education companies"? The world needs all the educational options we can get. For profit companies are not evil. The most expensive credits/universities in the world serve someone's needs or they would not exist.

I'm all for credits being cheap. I want to graduate as soon as possible. I do not have enough money to move forward right now. That's my problem. I'm thankful to have options like SL and other entrepreneurial companies investing their blood, sweat and tears to make education more accessible to the masses. Yeah, they built it!

“Control is as much an effect as a cause, and the idea that control is something you exert is a real handicap to progress”
― Steve Grand, Creation: Life and How to Make It

[scorched]

So, many for profit companies are indeed trying to help people get educated at a lower cost than at the traditional university, but it continues to perpetuate the illusion that a degree equals money, success or status in life and job.
I also lump book companies into the for profit realm, for which SL is based upon.
Then many of the new free places to learn like KHAN, Coursera, Udacity are where the world needs to aspire to; that knowledge should be universally available to those who want it.

Now my beef with SL is their unscrupulous mishandling of their "credibility" to start requiring proctoring. Funny but ALEKS is only $20 a month and didn't require that change! Add that they are venture capital backed, so they have an inherent need to return a profit, and funny that the tutoring service SL uses is their CEO's former company which he sold a few years back. So while the CEO is a super smart Harvard grad, look at how hard he tries to get online education de-regulated, he is not doing it to get the above universal knowledge out there, its so he can make the company appeal to more people, hence driving more profit. Another annoyance with SL, for me being in IT, I refuse to trust their website, it was several people on this forum who had to point out to them that they didn't actually have a secure website. I had many emails with them, they claimed to fix it, but all it looks like to me was they enabled only part of it securely, but I didn't care enough to continue arguing with them.

[rebel100]

So, many for profit companies are indeed trying to help people get educated at a lower cost than at the traditional university, but it continues to perpetuate the illusion that a degree equals money, success or status in life and job.
I also lump book companies into the for profit realm, for which SL is based upon.
Then many of the new free places to learn like KHAN, Coursera, Udacity are where the world needs to aspire to; that knowledge should be universally available to those who want it.

Now my beef with SL is their unscrupulous mishandling of their "credibility" to start requiring proctoring. Funny but ALEKS is only $20 a month and didn't require that change! Add that they are venture capital backed, so they have an inherent need to return a profit, and funny that the tutoring service SL uses is their CEO's former company which he sold a few years back. So while the CEO is a super smart Harvard grad, look at how hard he tries to get online education de-regulated, he is not doing it to get the above universal knowledge out there, its so he can make the company appeal to more people, hence driving more profit. Another annoyance with SL, for me being in IT, I refuse to trust their website, it was several people on this forum who had to point out to them that they didn't actually have a secure website. I had many emails with them, they claimed to fix it, but all it looks like to me was they enabled only part of it securely, but I didn't care enough to continue arguing with them.

I feel for where your coming from...but I have to disagree on a few points. First profit, non-profit, public, private they all have to get funded somehow. As a taxpayer you and I help fund public colleges. Even with that "State" schools have to advertise, diversify, and attract students in order to remain competitive. There is a reason college football (and a few other sports) are such a big deal for a school...they bring in revenue. Just because the cost is less to you as a student doesn't mean it wasn't paid for by someone. When I took the 2 years worth of PELL grant money I was basically on need based public assistance, I'm grateful for that but I'm very aware that someone else paid for that education. I think I spent that money well, miserly even...that was part of my responsibility to the taxpayers that ultimately footed the bill. School costs money....if it was all free who would pay the teachers? Who would foot the bill for the internet connection? Who would send you a diploma or transcripts?

You see, in the end, they are all "for profit". They have to perpetuate the idea that you will be better off with a degree...because we live in a society that places a value in your degree. This is not the fault of the big bad for profit college machine...its a reflection of the circumstances that exist in higher education, and in our greater world. No one requires you to have a degree to achieve status, success, or wealth. However it's a lot easier to achieve those things, generally speaking, with a degree.

I don't believe straighterline's business concept could have been brought to market by an accredited school. I think the politics of higher education would have (did) prevent it. It took a guy with an idea, a little financial backing, a can do entrepreneurial spirit to pull it off. I have no qualms about his former company handling aspects of his business...he built that too and knows it can perform as he wants it to. I share some of your personal concerns in regards to privacy...but we should all thank God on a regular bases that we live in a society that doesn't just allow this...but encourages it through the medium of money and profit.

I love that there are FEMA and Saylor.org courses for free. Did you know that saylor was founded by a businessman? One who earned his profits elsewhere and sinks his money into saylor as a labor of love? But here again capitalism provided this. FEMA is your tax dollars at work (though I think the college credit portion was really an unplanned and unintended consequence of the FEMA's goals)....but its being paid for.

Aleks is an experimental offshoot of a publishing house...another for profit entity.

Now we can talk about the system abuses of some for profits like Uof Phoenix if you like...but we can also delve into the misdoings of a certain high profile non profit schools football program that has produced more assaulted kids than Heisman trophy winners. Point is it's not the profit that is the issue. Profit is good. Money is indifferent...it's how you apply it that matters.

I have more but I gotta hit the road for now. I will be traveling down a public road...with tolls....whats up with that???

Best,
Mike

[scorched]

Wrote a superbly crafted reply but apparently the login timed out and when I clicked submit it asked for login again, a boom it was gone!
Will have to try again at lunch.

sorry forum admins, but can you please adjust the timeout value in the admin panel? And/or check the logs to see why the vb software kept telling me it was "auto-saved" in the lower right corner, but didn't actually do that.

[rebel100]

Wrote a superbly crafted reply but apparently the login timed out and when I clicked submit it asked for login again, a boom it was gone!
Will have to try again at lunch.

sorry forum admins, but can you please adjust the timeout value in the admin panel? And/or check the logs to see why the vb software kept telling me it was "auto-saved" in the lower right corner, but didn't actually do that.

I agree, happens to me all the time. I always copy a response into my clipboard before hitting submit so it's saved.

[scorched]

Hey Mike.. Finally got around to replying, I was playing to much google ingress this weekend and forgot to reply again.

Okay to start, you do make many good points. And personally I love capitalism, hell I even earned a paycheck back in the day as an instrucot from a for profit IT place, that taught Sun Microsystems education classes. The biggest difference for me is that 99% of the people who attended, did so at the cost to the company, then turned around, passed a certification, and ultimately made money at no cost to them.

As for football at schools though, most institutions with football along with other sports actually do not produce a profit. Only the big popular programs accomplish that.
And I am all for things such as pell grants, those programs were designed to help afford college for many people. I do however think the way in which the $36B is used for 9.6 M students is massively flawed. This is because the total US projected enrollment was only 20M, so were saying 1/2 of all students need aide?! Yes! Because traditional education is overpriced, and hence why places like SL were created, so I understand the need for more affordable education, typically colleges and universities are burdened with bureaucracy, which drive the costs up.

We do agree on the perpetuated over hype of college degrees in general.

Where I depart is in your comment of not able to be accomplished by a traditional school, and only someone like SL could do this. As mentioned above, yes SL is a good idea, but with mal intentions. MIT open courseware has been around for a long time, not to mention many other avenues of free knowledge. And while you can not directly get credit, you can use the knowledge for things like clep and dsst. And your certainly correct in noting that ALEKS is indeed for profit, but they are able to provide a limited number of math courses at $20 a month for the same exact credit at ACE that SL has for $99 a month plus $49 a class? For me there is a clear delineation between profiting and what SL is doing. They are both based on book publisher technology and both require employees, yet one can operate at less than 1/10 the cost? Also, you mention, it took a little financial backing and entrepreneurial spirit to pull it off? I gotta question your thought on this! He sold his former for profit education company, to start a new for profit education company which just happens use the tutorial service he originally sold!? You then go on to compare it to Saylor, which yes was also founded on profit, but not from exploiting education like the people at SL. Saylor who made his money from IT selling to corporations, wanted the knowledge to be free, and is now getting classes certified through the same ACE that SL does. They do not profit even from the proctored exams to get that credit. Oh yeah and unlike the folks a SL, they offer $20K to professors willing to write a college textbook. Again, the last time I checked, saylor has employees just like SL, and therefore are capable of pulling off a true not for profit education system. Even Sal Kahn used his profits from outside education to get rid of the profit for education, again proving the people at SL are not as interested in making education free, just cheaper than a college to entice you. The final nail in the coffin is that SL is venture capital based, having been part of a venture backed startup, the venture guys never get involved unless there is a good business case for a large ROI. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to take SL courses, and was willing to pay their price, was also offered frequent learner points for helping solve their unsecured website problem. But now that I am informed of their background and recent behavior, I find them deplorable. As such, I now tell my coworkers, employees, and anyone else trying to complete online college is to avoid them if possible.

But we also agree on UoP! Google the founders "Executive package" you will find $5M + $70k a month for life, makes you even madder at them.

Another recent read.
Education reform as a business