Top Legislator: Florida Should Consider Online University

The Florida Board of Governors should consider building a completely internet-based university, says a top Republican Representative.

Florida legislator Will Weatherford believes that the Florida Board of Governors should consider the cost-saving possibilities of building its 12^th state university totally online.

Representative Weatherford, who is set to become house-speaker in 2013-2014 if the Republicans maintain their majority after November’s elections, has urged education officials to “get out of their comfort zones,” and embrace the potential of online learning.

While several states have collaborated with companies to offer online courses and degrees, none has started their own college, writes Michael C. Bender at BusinessWeek.

Florida would be the first state to create such a program, said Andrew Magda, a senior analyst at Boston-based higher-education research company Eduventures Inc.

Board of Governors Chairman Dean Colson agreed to complete the cost analysis. Annual tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at the University of Florida in Gainesville is $5,700, according to its website.

“This is a great opportunity for us to bring back into the workforce people who need certain skills or credentials,” Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson said.

The state education board is set to hand over its analysis before lawmakers convene for the 2013 legislative session and, if the board recommends it, the online school could enroll students by 2014, Weatherford said.

“There is no doubt that such a delivery model is the wave of the future.”

In Florida, all high school students must take at least one online class. However, many critics say the move drains money from school districts, limits the social experience of education and affords few benefits for students who are not highly motivated.

Jennifer Smith, who teaches French at Hialeah High, said:

“I cannot think of any reason to mandate it for high school students other than saving money and/or making money for their friends’ companies that are running the systems.”

Around half of undergraduates at Florida universities took at least one online class in 2010 and the trend is increasing. Over 2.3 million students across the county did at least 80 percent of their degrees online, says Eduventures.

They expect this number to increase by up to 5 million by 2020.

Comments

Sean the Welshman

January 25, 2012 at 1:41 pm

The UK has a long successful history of distance learning. The Open University has been offering degrees even before the internet was a glimmer in US Army’s eye, by showing lectures on television and having students submit work by mail. Now, the classes are offered mostly online, although there are OU campuses spread across the entire country in case students need access to a lab. The achievement of OU is that it allows students interested in part-time education to not only obtain a university degree, but a degree that’s generally well regarded in both academia and the workplace.

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Kevin

January 25, 2012 at 2:15 pm

I think college education lends itself very well to online learning. Actually, in my mind, the ideal solution would be a hybrid system, where the introductory courses, which typically fill lecture halls and preclude individual attention from the professor, should be offered online, while the more advanced ones, which tend to be smaller and more individualized, will remain traditional. When I went to college, I didn’t even have a class in my major that was under 40 people until I was a junior. Furthermore, all classes in my major, except one, didn’t even require attendance. I would have welcomed watching lectures online as an alternative.

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Joe

January 25, 2012 at 2:17 pm

“However, many critics say the move drains money from school districts, limits the social experience of education and affords few benefits for students who are not highly motivated.”

This shouldn’t be an issue for college students. Unless a student is highly motivated, he has no place in an institution of higher learning anyway.

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Mark Peters

January 28, 2012 at 10:21 am

Wouldn’t it be less expensive to expand the existing universities by 9% rather than building a brand new university?

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