If the Times says it's So...

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Nov 1, 2000

My brother called me the other day all breathy with the news. "Did you see it in the Times?", he asked. "Ah.....what now?", I replied in my slowest drawl. "The article about the distance learning niche," he said. "Here, I'll send it to you." (silence for a moment) "There. Check it out"

The Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that 44 percent of all higher education institutions offered some form of distance learning in '97-'98. They also estimated that 1.3 million students were enrolled in degree granting distance education courses in those same years.

Steven Shrank, CEO of Capella University, said "The traditional classrom-based education does not wash well for the adult learner." Instead, he claims that the typical student in the distance education market is between the ages of 25-55. Capella, located in Minneapolis, is part of an Education Department demonstration project to determine how traditional student aid funding can be applied to distance education courses. However, while the Education Department's statistics show that 79% of traditional colleges and universities offered some type of distance education in '97-'98 academic year, Shank noted that these programs will not become the focus of the traditional university. Old Domion's President, James Koch, echoed this feeling, saying "...[A]lot of those just starting out will dropout because they find the fixed costs pretty high."

So where will the ivory tower and the electronic tower, most likely sitting somewhere next to you, meet? That remains to be seen, but it appears the distinctions are fast coming. "Would Harvard benefit from the expansion we've gone through?", asked University Phoenix President Brian Mueller. "Probably not. It would devalue their degree and they couldn't change as much."

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