Ashford University acquired by University of Arizona to become their new global campu

[Merlin]

University of Arizona Global does not appear to be going with a competency-based model. Rather, these will be traditional courses that run 8 weeks (technically 7.5 weeks). There will be two terms per year with an expected course load of 5 courses per term. They will also offer six start dates per year.

Given the 8-week course format and 6-month terms, it seems reasonable that someone could complete more than 5 courses per term. so I don't know if that is an average or requirement. They are listing $15,000 tuition per year ($7,500 per term / $1,500 per course) so I'm not sure if that suggests that tuition will be $1,500 per class or $7,500 per term.

They also indicate that scholarships will be available of up to $9,000 per year which will bring down the annual tuition to $6,000 per year.

Another interesting aspect of the UofA Global program is that they appear to offer the choice of online or on-campus options (at UofA or at Microcampuses in other cities around the world). So you can also study abroad. The way it is all worded suggests to me like they won't be making the "global" program completely independent of the main college program like Purdue did. It sounds like you'll earn UofA credits which means an UofA diploma.

They also offer undergrad, master, and doctoral level degrees, which is handy. I don't see any difference in tuition between the graduate and undergrad programs, but the site is probably not finished yet.

Given the price, this is a pretty interesting development for those of us interested in distance learning. The base tuition is a bit high for my tastes, but with the potential scholarship, it becomes much more reasonable at $6,000 per year.