EDUCAUSE | Affordability

Winds of Change: Higher Productivity in Higher Education

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 12:57:09 +0000

Editor’s Note: In this post, Brandt Redd suggests that personalized learning approaches can address dual pressures on higher education: increasing societal needs and expectations and flat or declining funding. Brandt is Senior Technology Officer for Education Programs at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He writes regularly at ofthat.com. This post originally appeared on the NGLC blog at nextgenlearning.org on February 11, 2013.

The Portmont College Story

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:57:58 +0000

The author discusses Portmont College and the unique characteristics that will enable it to take on the higher education challenges of broadening access, lowering costs, and maintaining the highest quality:

Bigfoot, Goldilocks, and Moonshots: A Report from the Frontiers of Personalized Learning

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:08:13 +0000

The creativity of higher education innovators has produced three categories of solutions with the potential to break the “iron triangle” of cost, quality, and access.

Beyond the MOOC Hype

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:23:37 +0000

For almost two decades, the world of online education has been evolving. Entering 2013, we are presented with a confusing array of educational delivery models. The purpose of this webinar is to give participants a solid foundation regarding what online educational delivery models are out there. Ranging from relatively traditional classrooms to fully online courses, online education is being integrated into the college experience for almost one-third of students. Many of these models, such as massive open online classes (MOOCs), are geared toward accessibility and affordability. Other models focus on personalized learning styles, such as competency-based education. Traditional learning management system providers and textbook publishers are also trying to find their places in this new world, promoting yet other models. We aim to shed light on these approaches so that decision makers and stakeholders can determine the best approach for their colleges and universities while staying true to the missions of their respective institutions.

Hallmarks of the Breakthrough Models, #3: Free Course Content

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:04:55 +0000

Editor’s Note: This post is the third in a series from Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC). Each post highlights a distinguishing design characteristic of NGLC’s recently funded Breakthrough Postsecondary Models, as described in their profiles. This post originally appeared on the NGLC blog at http://nextgenlearning.org/blog

Hallmarks of the Breakthrough Models, #2: Student Support

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:19:51 +0000

Editor’s Note: This post is the second in a series from Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC). Each post highlights a distinguishing design characteristic of NGLC’s recently funded Breakthrough Postsecondary Models, as described in their profiles. This post originally appeared on the NGLC blog at http://nextgenlearning.org/blog

Ultra-Affordable Online Courses and the Transformation of Higher Education

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:33:05 +0000

Brian Voss and Burck Smith will explore higher education's changing landscape and what it means for our IT community. Join us for a discussion spanning traditional institutions, entrepreneurs, regulators, policymakers, and for-profit providers that focus on the learning experience, business models, and future prospects of open content, MOOCs, and more.

The Costs of Online Learning

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:29:37 +0000

It’s impossible to put a single price tag on “online learning” because, like cars, colleges, and cottages, it comes in widely varying levels of quality and efficiency. Instead, this paper attempts to estimate average costs—and a range of costs—for online learning as currently practiced in the U.S. It’s widely believed that online teaching and learning will save money compared with traditional schools, and that may be true under some circumstances. Certainly it’s possible. But the choices, trade-offs, quality considerations, and timelines matter enormously.

In these pages, we estimate the costs of blended learning models and full time virtual schools as currently operated in the U.S. We find that average overall per-pupil costs of both models are significantly lower than the $10,000 national average for traditional brick-and-mortar schools—and that virtual schools are cheaper on average than blended schools. Yet there is wide variation in spending among both virtual and blended-learning schools. So we express our cost estimates as ranges rather than precise figures—and we pay ample attention to trade-offs, start-up costs, professional development, and other key variables. These ranges are illuminating—from $5,100 to $7,700 for virtual schools, and $7,600 to $10,200 for the blended version—but much better data on both costs and outcomes will be needed for policymakers to reach confident conclusions related to the productivity and efficiency of these promising new models.

Written by Tamara Butler Battaglino, Matt Haldeman, and Eleanor Laurans

Going Exponential – Growing the Charter Sector’s Best

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:19:29 +0000

The supply of seats in the nation’s best charter schools is not growing rapidly enough to serve the millions of low-income children who need better schools. Based on lessons from the fastest growing organizations in other sectors, this report for the Progressive Policy Institute provides breakthrough solutions for growing the best charter schools and charter management organizations. With specific advice for charter sector leaders, policymakers and philanthropists, Going Exponential offers strategies that could enable every child living in poverty to have access to schools as good as today’s top ten percent charter schools by 2025. Recommendations address the major barriers limiting growth of the sector’s best, such as scarcity of excellent school leaders, funding for growth, and motivation of charter leaders to grow while maintaining excellence.

Written by Emily Ayscue Hassel, Bryan C. Hassel, Joe Ableidinger

Encouraging Social Innovation through Capital: Using Technology to Address Barriers

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:01:04 +0000

This report, co-authored by Bryan Hassel for Bellwether Education Partners, examines how technology can optimize the flow of investment capital to drive innovation in public education. As described by Bellwether: “Through an in-depth examination of investing and giving tools and platforms, and interviews with more than two dozen stakeholders, we discovered that there are indeed ways we can better leverage technology to increase and align funding for education innovations. By strengthening content, connecting technology efforts with existing face-to-face networks, and streamlining transactions, we can help create a more rational, evidence-based culture in public education that can effectively attract capital, steer it toward the best ideas and approaches, and ultimately improve student achievement and school productivity.”

This is the final paper in the Bellwether Education Partners’ series Innovation for the Public Good: A Case Study of US Education, produced with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.

Written by Bryan Hassel, Julie Petersen, and Kim Smith

Napster, Udacity, and the Academy

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 22:42:48 +0000

Clay Shirky provides a thoughtful discussion in this blog on MOOCs and its early stages of possible disruption of higher education.

Breakthrough Models for College Completion: The Next Generation of Models for Higher Education

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 04:51:00 +0000

This compilation of Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) grantee profiles illustrates the innovative approaches of 10 new postsecondary degree program designs awarded grants under NGLC's third wave of funding, which focused on "Breakthrough Models for College Completion." It provides practical details particularly of interest to those designing and planning new innovative degree programs.

The introduction describes common attributes across the portfolio, including competency-based learning, disaggregated faculty roles, tuition models that reward persistence, data to target supports, and self-paced instruction. Following the brief overview, each individual model is profiled. The individual profiles summarize key features through graphics and at-a-glance facts. They also offer important descriptive information about the instructional and financial models and their unique methods and structures to provide high-quality associate’s or bachelor’s degrees at affordable costs, particularly for underserved populations.

Next Generation Learning Challenges accelerates educational innovation through applied technology to dramatically improve college readiness and completion in the United States. To learn more about NGLC and the grantees it supports, visit nextgenlearning.org.

Online Undergraduate Degree Completion Program: University of Washington

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:54:31 +0000

This flagship institution in the state of Washington is offering a low-cost online bachelor’s degree completion program, designed to serve working adults with some college credit who need an undergraduate degree to advance their careers. The degree completion program is offered at a reduced cost, and versions of the courses will be offered at no cost via MOOCs. The MOOC versions offer students the opportunity to sample a course before enrolling.

The two-page grantee profiles from Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) provide factual information about the secondary school and postsecondary degree program designs awarded grants under NGLC's third wave of funding, which focused on two areas, "Breakthrough Models for College Readiness" and "Breakthrough Models for College Completion." Each profile describes what makes each model "breakthrough" and offers important information about the instructional and financial models, student demographics, hardware and software choices, and contact info. These profiles serve to illustrate the innovations of these new blended and online models, with practical details of interest to those starting a new school or degree program.

NGLC accelerates educational innovation through applied technology to dramatically improve college readiness and completion in the United States. To learn more about NGLC and the grantees it supports, visit nextgenlearning.org.

The Texas Affordable Baccalaureate Program

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:49:15 +0000

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), South Texas College, Texas A&M University–Commerce, and the College for All Texans Foundation are launching this new Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree program in fall 2013. The program uses a competency-based, year-round model with flat-rate tuition such that students can work through as many courses within a seven-week period as their schedules allow. Students advance based on showing competency in the subject area rather than hours in class. Full-time faculty and industry experts develop courses; individual coaches support students in lower-division online courses; and faculty offer upper-division courses online and face-to-face.

College for America

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:43:25 +0000

Focused on “unconfident learners”—those who are familiar with educational failures, unsure of their abilities, or balancing the demands of work and family—the College for America program of Southern New Hampshire University is a self-paced online associate’s degree program with no courses, no credit hours, no traditional faculty, and no grades, offered at a low student cost. The program encourages mentors in the workplace or the local community, uses a set of key competencies defined, in part, by employers, and connects each student to a coach who helps chart their path through the competencies.

Personalized Learning at Northern Arizona University

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:31:26 +0000

Northern Arizona University is launching a Personalized Learning program in spring 2013 to offer bachelor’s degrees that are more accessible, flexible, and efficient. Each degree program has a clear set of modules and learning outcomes defined by NAU faculty, but the route from start to finish is completely flexible, letting students choose which modules to tackle first. Along the way, mentor faculty work with students to provide feedback, suggest specific resources, or simply provide support if a student is struggling with an academic concept or with balancing their studies with their work.

New Charter University

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:26:02 +0000

New Charter University delivers relevant, outcomes-driven learning and college degrees where the university’s courses and content are freely available on the Internet to any learner, whether or not they are enrolled. Tuition is based on a monthly subscription model that includes textbooks. Although the goal is to increase access, quality and support are also important. New Charter is partnering with a traditional community college to study its model’s effectiveness in online and blended learning environments, especially for an adult learner population.

Kentucky Community and Technical College System

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:10:43 +0000

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is transforming an existing online program by using linear, competency-based course modules to increase student success, degree completion, and affordability. Students move swiftly and sequentially from one course module to the next without breaks between semesters in the Direct2Degree program. They move forward at their own pace once they master the content of a module. The revamped tuition model will reward progress and early completion.

Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 02:45:22 +0000

The University System of Georgia and one of its institutions, Columbus State University, are designing a new Bachelor of Arts degree program in Communication with a Civic Leadership concentration to begin Fall 2013. The program is delivered 90% online and punctuated at key risk points with in-person credit-bearing service-learning experiences. Students earn a certificate credential within the first year, an associate’s degree before the end of year two, and a bachelor’s degree upon completion.

Ameritas College Educational Services, LLC

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 03:50:55 +0000

Ameritas College is building upon Brandman University’s high quality and affordable blended learning Dual Language English Immersion (DLEI) degree program to create a 100% online program with a revolutionary new virtual learning environment to significantly expand access for Hispanic adults in need of higher education. The goal of DLEI is functional bilingualism for all students such that students develop both subject matter and college-level language proficiency—in English and Spanish—simultaneously.

Altius Education’s Ivy Bridge College

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 03:23:10 +0000

Altius Education’s model is a competency-based, holistic approach to online education addressing four critical needs: student support, engagement, remediation, and affordability. Altius’ Helix learning platform is transforming the courses offered in Ivy Bridge College’s associate’s degree programs with its personalized learning narratives which provide a real-world context for course material, continuous actionable feedback via rubrics and student-facing learning analytics. The model emphasizes not only associate degree completion but also successful transfer to four-year colleges and universities.

College is Dead. Long LIve College!

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:20:04 +0000

Writer, Amadna Ripley asks, can a new breed of online megacourses finally offer a college education to more people for less money? Time Magazine devotes an issue to MOOCs and online learning.

Democratizing Higher Education

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:19:05 +0000

In this keynote session from The Sloan Consortium Conference, Sebastian Thrun discusses his venture into MOOCs. In 2011, Thrun took his Stanford graduate level class online, and 160,000 students signed up. 23,000 graduated at Stanford level. Underlying this class was a teaching model that emphasizes student engagement, problem solving, and free online access.

Spending Better, Spending Less, and Spending Not at All: Alternative Strategies for Making College Affordable

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 20:05:44 +0000

Key Takeaways

To avoid spending too much on college tuition, students can seek better information and advice in making decisions about what to study and where to enroll.
Another way for students to keep tuition costs down is to have prior learning evaluated for college credit , whether that learning is from earlier coursework, extensive corporate training, self-study, or life experience.
Many employers provide employee tuition assistance, which can be up to $5,250 tax free, so some adult students need not spend anything to continue their education.

ERO Podcast: Chief of Staff for the Khan Academy, Jessica Yuen

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 21:55:55 +0000

In this podcast, we talk with Chief of Staff for the Khan Academy, Jessica Yuen. In our conversation, she discusses the Khan Academy's use of analytics, attitude toward affordability for students, and the future of higher education.