Online Learning Update

The year 2014 was a discouraging one for American higher education. Over the last twelve months, too many universities have been squandering what has been up until now their greatest source of support—the public’s respect and loyalty. A 2012 national Pew survey finds that 57 percent of prospective college students no longer believe a college degree is worth the cost. As traditional higher education recedes into irrelevance—financially, academically, and morally—alternative methods of higher education are beginning to rise. Some community colleges are beginning to offer four-year degrees, and at a much lower price than traditional four-year schools charge. Also, according to the Babson Survey Research Group, which has tracked online learning over the past decade, “the rate of growth in online enrollments is ten times that of the rate in all higher education.”