New and interesting initiatives are slowing but surely taking shape in ways of accessing high education by the masses.
A few educators are opening doors of college education to the masses across the globe in ways that are not only inspiring but also very innovative and hopefully, sustainable.
University of the People has been offering free college education to students around the world who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to receive such education because of their humble financial backgrounds.
Apart from application fee, most applicants are able to start their undergraduate education free of charge. Already nearly 1,400 students from 130 countries have taken advantage of the unique program.
The university started the program in 2009 and though it has it is yet to get accreditation; it has a lot of goodwill and support from prominent organizations and colleges including the United Nations, Yale ISP and the Clinton Global Initiative.
The giant computer maker, HP collaborates with the college by offering internships to its students. The other organizations that work with the college in a variety of ways include Open Course Ware Consortium, Partnership for New Beginning and New York University which allows students in the program to transfer courses to its campuses across the globe.
For instance, The Haiti initiative, undertaken after the after the 2010 earthquake aims to admit 250 students through a collaborative effort with the Clinton Global Initiative.
The other institution which is promising to change the way people access higher education is New Charter University , an outfit that charges $ 199 a month for its undergraduate courses.
That translates to nearly $ 6,000 for a degree! Compare this to the cost of other universities and you realize how far-reaching this concept is.
The university even has a provision that enables students to try the courses for free and only register (make payments) once they know it is a good fit for their needs.
It offers both graduate and undergraduate courses and has accreditation that would allow for the transfer of its courses.
The college explains it is able to set its tuition at such rates by not participating in government’s financial Aid Program . The university aims to graduate students without debt!.
that said though, students in this university still benefit from all from federal policies guiding higher education such as education tax credits and student loan payment deferment while enrolled.
even amid reservations, online education has gained mainstream acceptance as the means of impacting new skills mainly to non-traditional students. The online education model continues to ensure that educational opportunities are as diverse as they are democratic leading many people to acquire requisite skills and therefore better prospect for high paying jobs and therefore better lives.
The impact of these kinds of initiatives including Apple’s Itunes U can be resounding especially in developing countries where post-secondary education is most of the times a preserve of the rich. in most of these countries where online education infrastructure is not well-developed, alternative avenues to traditional education normally cost more. It therefore calls on education innovators to partner with these countries to see if effective and competitive online structures can be put in place to benefit individuals interested in college education.
currently, most leading learning institutions are grappling with the best way to offer their courses to the growing worldwide student body as seen by the recent move by MIT to offer credentials for some of its online courses.
A number of educational institutions however come up with campuses across the world in an attempt to attract additional students even though history is showing that most of such initiatives still do not cater for the needs of the students they intend to attract.
The gradual changes in the provision of online education will soon force educators to rethink long-standing traditions on education provision mainly for working adults, low-income, minority and the global student body.
Views from the Sidelines 