As Colleges Move Classes Online, Families Rebel Against the Cost

[ss20ts]

When paying tuition at a brick & mortar college, you're paying for the experience and the networking opportunities. They've lost all of that with transitioning to online. Let's be honest. Online learning isn't the same as in classroom learning. Some excel. Some don't. All instructors are NOT great at online teaching either. Many could barely operate a chalkboard let alone anything with technology.

CSU Global is a state university. It's part of the University of College system. They charged $350 per credit for undergrad. There are zero fees. This school was designed from day one to be an online school. They do it well. HUGE difference in tuition here and most other colleges. Many colleges are going to find themselves in serious financial trouble over the next few years. Students and parents are NOT going to pay B&M prices for an online education. Colleges are going to have to completely reinvent themselves. They're not going to need massive campuses that cost a fortune to maintain. Some colleges already have good online programs. They will be the ones who succeed. The ones who think the kids will come back next year are the ones who won't be open in a few years. They're all getting a reality check right now.

One interesting thing I noticed last night while filling out my master promissory note for a student loan. Grad school student loans are capped at $20,500 per year. Many grad programs come in just under that amount. Coincidence? Nope. Undergrad tuition at the same school will be significantly higher. Why? Parents supplement the tuition and there are loans for parents to pay that $45,000 in tuition. I found it very interesting how closely tied to the grad school student loan cap grad tuition is at many colleges.

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More people complaining about schools going online without reducing tuition. Of course they see this as a reduced quality of education (which it doesn't have to be if done right) and they don't realize that at many schools, a lion's share of the tuition goes into financial aid programs to compensate for reduced government support. So they probably cannot reduce tuition by too much or risk losing student aid for those who need it.

Yes, the schools should definitely refund student housing and campus-related fees, but schools are likely to be paying more to transition to support online tools and services and to hire people with online experience to set up and manage everything, so tuition reductions are a heavy ask... especially for smaller schools without external support who operate on thin margins.

This mostly comes down to a stigma against online education and people seeing it as inferior. Which again, it doesn't have to be if the schools prepare properly. At least IMO.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/15/us/co...ition.html

There isn't much difference if you are sitting in a classroom or watching the teacher via zoom.  But kids feel like they should be given a discount.

It is a big mess for schools.  They have a lot of fixed costs and aren't set up for a fully online school.  Some have bloated pension plans and were already having problems before the crisis.  Without sports, that is a major source of revenue.  They are already losing tons of money and can't afford to discount tuitions. 

The smaller community colleges will get crushed if this goes on much longer.  People will just go to places like WGU or wherever is the cheapest.  The big state colleges should survive.

By the end of the year, lots of vaccines will likely be released.  The question will be if they work at all, work permanently, and are safe to use.

I still favor the idea of going HAM (Hard as a MF) on testing:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...ay/615217/


Go to http://archive.vn/ to read nytimes or get around those annoying paywalls.

Community colleges are state funded. They're not private schools. They're fine. Taxpayers cover most of the tuition. Community college is quite often far cheaper for in state tuition than WGU.