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By Shea Drefs and Allen Taylor
Donald Trump wants to reduce the Department of Education’s influence, Ted Cruz promises to eliminate the department altogether and Hillary Clinton is committed to no-loan tuition. As radical as the ideas of these U.S. presidential candidates are, Bernie Sanders’ plan for higher education may be the most radical of all; the Vermont senator wants to get rid of tuition at U.S. public colleges and universities. If he were elected and successful, how would free college affect Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)?
Your intuition might tell you that free college would destroy education alternatives, but experts in the MOOC industry say that may not be the case.
Ajay Kapur, president & CEO of Kadenze, a MOOC provider focused on the arts, expects doing away with college tuition would benefit both his students and his industry. “Artists and creatives in the pursuit of higher education would greatly benefit from the abolition of tuition at our public colleges and universities,” he said. “MOOCs provide access and support learning at these institutions, and are essentially free already.”
CourseTalk CEO Don Loonam agreed. “Making higher education more affordable would be a fantastic development for students, as well as for MOOCs,” he said. “I’m confident MOOCs would continue to thrive even if college were free because the majority of MOOC students do not use their online learning as a replacement for college.”
Why MOOCs would survive
Loonam cited research showing that about 80 percent of MOOC students already hold a degree. Couple this with the fact that the most common motivation for online learning among CourseTalk users is simply enjoyment, and it seems unlikely that a significant number of MOOC users would abandon their online studies if college tuition disappeared.
Another important reason to believe MOOCs would survive: Countries that already offer free higher education also have significant MOOC usage. “We need only look at countries like Germany to see that free college and MOOCs can coexist,” said Loonam. Germany, which offers free college to all students, happens to be among the top five countries for number of CourseTalk users.
But what about paid online classes, in particular? Would fee-based providers like Udemy or Treehouse be goners in an education system run by Sanders? Likely not. A study of CourseTalk reviews found that MOOC users actually rate paid courses higher than free courses, making it likely that a certain clientele would be willing to pay for online learning they deemed worth the money. Currently, the five highest-rated providers on CourseTalk all charge for classes; if these platforms can perform so well among a plethora of free MOOCs, they’re likely to perform well among free colleges, as well.
Why MOOCs might even expand
But MOOCs might do more than just survive. They might even flourish
For one thing, research has shown that highly-educated people are more likely to take MOOCs. While we don’t know for sure whether advanced education leads directly to the increased interest or whether the two are simply correlated, evidence suggests that a better educated country wouldn’t be a bad thing for MOOCs.
Consider, also, the thousands of dollars American families would be saving on higher education. If even a tiny fraction of it went to online learning, can you imagine the effects?
In a world with President Sanders, college and universities themselves might also help MOOCs grow. The student population would be sure to swell if education were suddenly affordable to all, so schools might incorporate MOOCs into the traditional college experience to reach more students at once. They might also use MOOCs as a marketing tool to attract the best of these new students. Private schools unable to offer free tuition would be especially eager to try new forms of marketing, such as MOOCs.
“We may be able to solve the financial aid problem for MOOCs as a nation,” – Ajay Kapur, President & CEO of Kadenze
One remaining question is how MOOCs themselves would be financed in this new system. If schools were allowed to charge for MOOCs, they might turn to these classes as a source of income. On the other hand, if MOOCs created or recognized by public schools were legally required to be free, the government would likely provide financing.
“Should government support come to help providers award credit, we may be able to solve the financial aid problem for MOOCs as a nation,” said Kapur, who pointed out that providers like Kadenze and edX already offer courses that can convert to college credit.
No matter how much college tuition costs, we think the future of MOOCs looks bright.
Now it’s your turn: What do you think?
*Please note that this article is not an endorsement of a political candidate or policy. CourseTalk explores education-related political issues to help users stay informed.
Continue reading...
Donald Trump wants to reduce the Department of Education’s influence, Ted Cruz promises to eliminate the department altogether and Hillary Clinton is committed to no-loan tuition. As radical as the ideas of these U.S. presidential candidates are, Bernie Sanders’ plan for higher education may be the most radical of all; the Vermont senator wants to get rid of tuition at U.S. public colleges and universities. If he were elected and successful, how would free college affect Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)?
Your intuition might tell you that free college would destroy education alternatives, but experts in the MOOC industry say that may not be the case.
Ajay Kapur, president & CEO of Kadenze, a MOOC provider focused on the arts, expects doing away with college tuition would benefit both his students and his industry. “Artists and creatives in the pursuit of higher education would greatly benefit from the abolition of tuition at our public colleges and universities,” he said. “MOOCs provide access and support learning at these institutions, and are essentially free already.”
CourseTalk CEO Don Loonam agreed. “Making higher education more affordable would be a fantastic development for students, as well as for MOOCs,” he said. “I’m confident MOOCs would continue to thrive even if college were free because the majority of MOOC students do not use their online learning as a replacement for college.”
Why MOOCs would survive
Loonam cited research showing that about 80 percent of MOOC students already hold a degree. Couple this with the fact that the most common motivation for online learning among CourseTalk users is simply enjoyment, and it seems unlikely that a significant number of MOOC users would abandon their online studies if college tuition disappeared.
Another important reason to believe MOOCs would survive: Countries that already offer free higher education also have significant MOOC usage. “We need only look at countries like Germany to see that free college and MOOCs can coexist,” said Loonam. Germany, which offers free college to all students, happens to be among the top five countries for number of CourseTalk users.
But what about paid online classes, in particular? Would fee-based providers like Udemy or Treehouse be goners in an education system run by Sanders? Likely not. A study of CourseTalk reviews found that MOOC users actually rate paid courses higher than free courses, making it likely that a certain clientele would be willing to pay for online learning they deemed worth the money. Currently, the five highest-rated providers on CourseTalk all charge for classes; if these platforms can perform so well among a plethora of free MOOCs, they’re likely to perform well among free colleges, as well.
Why MOOCs might even expand
But MOOCs might do more than just survive. They might even flourish
For one thing, research has shown that highly-educated people are more likely to take MOOCs. While we don’t know for sure whether advanced education leads directly to the increased interest or whether the two are simply correlated, evidence suggests that a better educated country wouldn’t be a bad thing for MOOCs.
Consider, also, the thousands of dollars American families would be saving on higher education. If even a tiny fraction of it went to online learning, can you imagine the effects?
In a world with President Sanders, college and universities themselves might also help MOOCs grow. The student population would be sure to swell if education were suddenly affordable to all, so schools might incorporate MOOCs into the traditional college experience to reach more students at once. They might also use MOOCs as a marketing tool to attract the best of these new students. Private schools unable to offer free tuition would be especially eager to try new forms of marketing, such as MOOCs.
“We may be able to solve the financial aid problem for MOOCs as a nation,” – Ajay Kapur, President & CEO of Kadenze
One remaining question is how MOOCs themselves would be financed in this new system. If schools were allowed to charge for MOOCs, they might turn to these classes as a source of income. On the other hand, if MOOCs created or recognized by public schools were legally required to be free, the government would likely provide financing.
“Should government support come to help providers award credit, we may be able to solve the financial aid problem for MOOCs as a nation,” said Kapur, who pointed out that providers like Kadenze and edX already offer courses that can convert to college credit.
No matter how much college tuition costs, we think the future of MOOCs looks bright.
Now it’s your turn: What do you think?
*Please note that this article is not an endorsement of a political candidate or policy. CourseTalk explores education-related political issues to help users stay informed.
Continue reading...
