When will they learn? The high price of higher education online.

[UptonSinclair]

As a new Excelsior student I have spent hours researching sources of affordable credit. It has affirmed my belief that most colleges and universities are clueless about online education. Many seem to think that putting their classes online while retaining the ridiculous tuition they charge for club-ed is going to draw people to their institutions. When will they realize that many of us go the online route to avoid the expensive beast they have created at the B&M colleges?

If there is one phrase in higher education that angers me more than any other it is, "what the market will bear." Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Even our local cc has jumped on the bandwagon of charging as much as they think they can get away with. An online course from Pikes Peak Community College now runs $200 per credit with the stipend that Colorado throws in. They actually charge more for online classes than they charge for residential courses. I am still at a loss how online classes cost them more.

Exclesior seems to have caught the market based pricing bug. I love their flexibility, but I can do without their tuition. If they charged about half of what they do, I would be taking most of my courses through them. It is Fort Hays for me unless something better comes along. Excelsior will only get tuition from me for Capstone and information lit. (unless I use Penn Foster for Information lit). $200 per credit seems to be the most I can stomach.

[EI2HCB]

I think you are correct for the most part, some people on here have gained their degree for six thousand dollars by planning correctly and using the big three schools plus other resources, Salaries for professors are fairly expensive and so this is used as a justification for higher rates. I'm currently taking Marketing 100 at Strayer and it costs 1700 for the three credit course which is outlandish, I got an email from them today stating that there's a price increase but those already enrolled will not have to pay. My employer pays for my course, I work at Starbucks but I don't like the idea of them making tons of cash from my education. Some analysts predict an education bubble and that eventually the market will reset itself. The issue arises when Stafford loans continue to enable most students to pay the fees and results in their slavery for decades in some cases. We must play their game in order to get the degree but we can use every advantage available to us in the process.

[sanantone]

It's strange how some colleges give in-state tuition rates to non-residents in online programs while others charge more for online courses. Although, I heard it's expensive to set up online programs.

[UptonSinclair]

Congrats on the tuition assistance. That is a rare benefit these days. I have mixed feelings about the school loans. A correction is definately needed, but economists don't focus on the toll such a correction would have on a generation or two of students. Many would priced out of higher education in the process of a correction. I would rather see price controls on schools that accept federal dollars. As you can tell, I am no economist. The metion of price controls would send many into cold sweats.

My daughter attends Colorado State University. The president like to talk about how the state is forcing them to privatize which is why he has to raise tuition. He fails to mention that during the Clinton years when education funding was increasing Colorado State continued to raise tuition. They have raised tution every years since 1971.

[UptonSinclair]

I had posted on why I thought online classes were cheaper, but considering the disdain administrators have for employees I can see why they would contract out their infrastructure. I suspect the licensing fees of Blackboard contribute to the high cost of online classes. I would prefer to use Moodle of Blackboard, but I am an open source fan.