bodner089

When I suggest that most institutions of higher education are in trouble, I am in good company.  Many people say the same thing, and most point to the remarkably rapid emergence of very low cost alternatives for earning credits, especially in the lucrative area of general education, as well as alternative ways of certifying learning that tie to the needs of employers. For example, at StraighterLine, one can earn a full year of general education credits for about $1000, and those credits will transfer to many institutions.   Companies, community colleges and a few universities are breaking new ground by providing free non-credit options that can be turned into transferable credits, through exams that may cost less than $100.   In short, the higher education financial model is breaking down. Moreover, because leaders are convinced that spending on “amenities,” (athletics, additional buildings, etc.) is necessary in order to compete for residential students, they are i...

Today (February 4, 2013), there are several stories in Inside Higher Education that illustrate the point of my last post, and I want to use two of them to express a relatively strong statement of concern.   I simply do not believe that many leaders in higher education understand the train that is bearing down on them. The first piece is titled, “Free Course, Inexpensive Exam” ( http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/04/free-online-course-providers-pair-credit-bearing-exams ).   The story describes the decision of a student to take a free online course, and then receive three credits at his home institution by taking a CLEP exam, for just $99.    The piece then discusses some of the many options that more and more students undoubtedly will choose over paying much higher tuition at a university, or even at a community college.   The course was a general education course in psychology, and the student makes a perfectly understandable point t...