by Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed

Online education can “bend the cost curve” of an undergraduate degree, according to a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, but whether the lower tuition is caused by a boost in productivity — as opposed to more competition — is still undetermined. The paper, authored by business and economics professors at Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley, explores the fluctuations in the cost of an undergraduate degree — and if online learning impacted that change — since the federal government removed a rule that restricted most institutions from offering more than half of their courses online. Known as the 50-percent rule, the regulation was removed in February 2006.