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dents with courses designed to help students

Online boasts roughly 13,500 students pur-

suing degrees online.8 7

develop the skills necessary to gain entry to

various fields including graphic design, mul-

Through the online program, students

timedia and Web design, computer anima-

can obtain numerous degrees in a range of

tion, video production, culinary arts, interior

subjects including education, business

design, industrial design, photography, and

administration, accounting, computer infor-

fashion marketing.8 1 Like DeVry, Education

mation systems, and nursing. Students

enrolled in the online program receive

Management measures success in terms of

assignments and instruction over the

student employment: approximately 91 per-

Internet. Typically, at the beginning of the

cent of 1998 graduates seeking employment

week instructors send out information

received positions in their desired fields with-

in six months of graduation.82

(which may include a lecture) on the topic of

the week, the assignment (e.g., reading that is

Those and other for-profit postsecondary

accessible through the university's electronic

institutions are changing the composition of

library or from a course textbook or a written

the postsecondary marketplace by serving

assignment), and discussion questions.

the needs of adults seeking new skills.

Students can participate in electronic class-

Distance Learning

room discussions, ask questions, and receive

New technologies are also making it easi-  feedback online. Students turn in assign-

er for adults to continue their education  ments to their instructors and receive grades

through "distance" or "distributed" learning.  and comments online.8 8

Distance learning consists of educational

Tuition for the University of Phoenix

programs that are distributed via communi-  Online is less than tuition at the average uni-

cation technologies such as the Internet,  versity: the cost of obtaining a bachelor's

satellite technology, and video. Those pro-  degree typically runs from $12,000 to

grams allow students to complete course-  $24,000.8 9In contrast, the National Center for

work without ever entering a traditional  Education Statistics estimates that the average

classroom or campus, which makes courses  cost of obtaining a bachelor's degree runs

both more affordable and accessible for  from $13,000 at public colleges to $56,000 at

many workers. The U.S. Department of  private colleges.9 0 However, the low cost of

Education estimated that one-third of higher  public universities is misleading since it does

education institutions offered distance edu-  not include the substantial subsidy provided

cation courses in 1995 and another 25 per-  by taxpayers. For example, Gary Wolfram,

Tuition for the

cent planned to offer such courses within  author of "The Threat to Independent

three years.83 Forbes estimates that approxi-  Education: Public Subsidies and Private

University of

mately 90,000 courses at U.S. colleges and  Colleges," estimates that in-state tuition cov-

Phoenix Online is

universities are offered through some form ers only 28 percent of the costs of providing an

of distance learning.8 4 The International  education in a public college.9 1 Therefore, the

less than tuition

Data Corporation estimates that the number  cost of a public university education is likely to

at the average

of students enrolled in distributed learning  be more than three times the tuition charged,

university.

will increase from 710,000 in 1998 to 2.23  or roughly $9,000 annually or $39,000 for a

million in 2002.8 5

degree. In reality, the University of Phoenix

The University of Phoenix Online, a for-  Online has substantially lowered the cost of

profit university run by the Apollo Group,  obtaining a bachelor's degree.

Kaplan Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of

was one of the first online degree programs

offered by an accredited university. The pro-  the Washington Post Company, created

gram was first offered in 1989, and by 1999  Concord University School of Law, the only

there were approximately 10,000 students  online law school, in the fall of 1998.92

enrolled.86 Today the University of Phoenix  Concord's curriculum corresponds to the

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