Traditional students rebelling against online education

[Merlin]

You're not getting any "more" out of a B&M education, except maybe it's easier to form study groups. B&M schools do overcharge, but that has nothing to do with distance learning vs. in-person education.

It's a perception thing. There are still a lot of people who believe that people cannot learn unless they're in a traditional classroom environment. Many also believe that all online colleges are just diploma mills, so the people who attend those kinds of schools can't possibly be getting a real education. People who brag online about how quickly they complete degrees at online schools don't help in the latter point and just serves to drive the point of the naysayers.

We all know that there are strengths and weaknesses to online education, but that doesn't mean the rigor isn't there or that online courses mean a lower quality of education (or even that they charge less because they know their programs are inferior). It can mean that, but it doesn't have to. There are plenty of low-quality B&M schools and courses as well.

The thing is, I think this could potentially be a turning point in online education. Particularly as big schools start to adopt it more, driven in part by things like COVID-19. So these lawsuits could potentially become crucial in legitimizing online education in the eyes of the masses, depending on how the legal and political battles pan out.