"The Education Department failed to approve a single application for federal student loan relief in the second half of last year, according to new department data signaling that students cheated by their colleges cannot count on help from Washington anytime soon.
The department neither approved nor denied any relief claims filed by students under the so-called borrower defense program from June to December of 2018, even after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s foot-dragging was illegal. In October, the judge ordered the Education Department to enforce a long-delayed Obama-era rule that expanded and expedited loan relief for defrauded students, many of whom attended for-profit colleges." …
https://www.watertowndailytimes.com/national/student-loan-relief-claims-piling-up-20190407
This is a very disturbing situation. The next election cycle should highlight the student loan crisis.
Education is supposed to improve lives, not destroy them.
One efficient solution to the high cost of education should be the use of online courses and degrees, yet in many fields online students are charged the same tuition & fees as those attending school on campus.
In fairness, in many cases the cost of delivery for those online classes are equivalent. No, you don’t have to maintain the brick & mortar structure to house the class, but there is a cost to provide online access to materials and security. If you’re talking about self-study and an exam for credit, then yes the costs would be lower, but maintaining a quality online program is expensive. The bigger issue is just that - the quality of the program.
I find it hard to believe that the cost of delivering online classes is the same as attending class on campus.
Having finished the final few credits toward my degree online, I can attest that some classes are far better than others. A well designed online program includes just as much (maybe more) contact with your instructor, and the type of delivery makes a big difference. Some schools are making an effort to make online programs more affordable (ASU’s Global Freshman program through edX for example).
I do know that some universities are going very high tech to enhance classroom interaction between online students & classroom students who take live classes together.
But many online classes do not have significant interaction with in class students & offer only limited ability to ask questions.
The cost may appear to be similar due to the start up costs of online & assessing building & campus costs even though just a classroom is needed to tape online.
Perhaps it would be better to state that online classes have the potential to greatly lower cost of delivery.
In many cases, it’s not. And with many online programs, the students pay an extra fee to cover “proxy costs”.
Online classes are cheaper to run because often the number of students per class can be much larger as long as homework/tests can be computer scored.
Ive seen a number of “brick and mortar” schools offering online classes for a low “per credit” cost…and not charging any OOS upcharge.
It’s much cheaper not to have to provide clean seats/clean classrooms/clean bathrooms, parking spaces, security, blah blah blah.
The cost to provide online classes is not close to the cost of brick & mortar delivered classes.
Seriously, I’m seeing established unis offering online classes for as low as $200 per credit…whether IS or OOS. My own son is doing an online program at around $400 per credit, and it’s the same cost IS or OOS.
Ive also seen RN to BSN online programs from legit universities that only cost about $10k total for the entire RN-BSN program…again IS or OOS.
It’s got to be cheaper…