[WEB4LIB] Re: Tuition, Fees & Online Courses

[Patrick Durusau]

Dear Web4libbers,

I recently was checking on the availability of online computer courses offered by
public colleges and universities. Much to my surprise the old parochial model of
charging nominal fees to "in-state" students versus substantial higher fees for
"out-of-state" students was being used. The fee for one "Internet Programming
Java" for "in-state" students was $36 and the fee for the same course for
"out-of-state" students was $363! (West Hills College, search on 4/7/1999) In all
fairness to California universities I should note that the larger schools charged
the same fees for "in-state" and "out-of-state" students, generally $1,500 to
$2,000 for a completely online course!

If you are interested in one ready source of information on pricing and online
classes see the California Virtual University, http://www.california.edu/.

Patrick

--
Patrick Durusau
Information Technology Services
Scholars Press
pdurusau at emory.edu
Interim Manager, ITS





Robert Tiessen wrote:

> The University of Calgary charges higher tuition for offcampus programs,
> whether they be video, audio, web or whatever.  While the tuition is
> higher, there doesn't appear to be a uniform policy from program to
> program.  So I cannot quote a specific price or percentage.
>
> Frequently, the University of Calgary will give a one time grant for the
> cost of putting together a distance program.
>
> Distance students here pay lower student fees, because they obviously
> are not going to use most on campus facilities.
>
> --
> Rob Tiessen
> Distance Education Librarian
> University of Calgary Library
> tiessen at ucalgary.ca
> 403-220-2119
>
> Green, Denise wrote:
> >
> > I am researching a very specific issue related to Web based college courses
> > for a campus committee. Do any colleges or universities charge different
> > tuition or student fees to students in online courses? Has any institution
> > attempted to allocate part of the cost of web courses to students by
> > charging them a "technology fee" or a special higher tuition rate to help
> > recover costs of course development or hardware maintenance?   Conversely
> > have any colleges tried to offer lower tuition to online students with the
> > rationale that there will be cost savings (to the college) in such courses?
> > We all know the illusion of "putting it online will save money" but this is
> > a valid assumption to some administrators and trustees.
> >
> > A related point our campus is pondering is a lower student fee for some
> > students who are entirely or primarily Web / online students. For example,
> > students complain about paying the full athletic fee or parking fees if they
> > don't come to our campus. Or only come once or twice a semester. It makes
> > some sense that a student living in Sioux City, SD  isn't going to be using
> > the gym in Springfield, IL but they could be enrolled in one of our
> > completely internet courses.
> >
> >  After searching ERIC and other index databases I haven't found any exact
> > matches to this issue of a different tuition or fee structure for online
> > students. Most colleges appear to be eating the cost of web-based course
> > development or getting grants, one-time expenditures, etc. to cover new
> > hardware and software development.
> >
> > Thank you for your input.
> > Denise Green
> > Brookens Library
> > University of Illinois at Springfield