4 ms·

That's a great question that I've wondered myself - a part of it (in the U.S.) I think is the belief that a huge part of the value of a bachelors degree is grow

That's a great question that I've wondered myself - a part of it (in the U.S.) I think is the belief that a huge part of the value of a bachelors degree is growth you get living alone, in dorms, learning how to be an adult, etc. that aren't really part of a curriculum and would be hard or impossible to do online. In addition, I know that a massive number of people who take online courses (just the individual ones from Coursera and the like) tend to drop out, so maybe they colleges think that if they had an entire 4yr degree online almost no one would actually graduate (which may hurt their rankings or they dislike for some other reason that doesn't bother for profit colleges).

leetcrew 7y ago
> I think is the belief that a huge part of the value of a bachelors degree is growth you get living alone, in dorms, learning how to be an adult, etc. that aren't really part of a curriculum and would be hard or impossible to do online. a counterexample would be the existence of respected schools with a large amount of commuter students, many of whom continue to live with their parents while going to school. I graduated from such a place. if you really wanted (in cs at least), you could only show up in class for exams and still get an A if you did all the homeworks and projects. this school is one of the most heavily targeted in the state for tech recruiting. > In addition, I know that a massive number of people who take online courses (just the individual ones from Coursera and the like) tend to drop out, so maybe they colleges think that if they had an entire 4yr degree online almost no one would actually graduate (which may hurt their rankings or they dislike for some other reason that doesn't bother for profit colleges). this is a bit more convincing. online schools already have a stigma since the originals were almost (or actually) scams. probably no one want to take the risk of offering the first online degree.
indigochill 7y ago
> know that a massive number of people who take online courses (just the individual ones from Coursera and the like) tend to drop out This is one of those statistics that (I think) misses the context. In college, you complete courses for credit which generally requires sitting through the whole thing. On Coursera and the like, you typically take the course because there's something in there you want to learn. A particular learner may only be interested in a piece of the overall course and so ignore the parts they're not interested in while focusing on those they are. The engagement paradigm is different on every level from traditional courses, so I don't think it's meaningful to talk about "drop out" rates in that context. Where it may be more meaningful is to look at drop out rates of students who have paid to take the course for a certificate. In that case, they have signaled intent to complete the course, so talking about a drop out rate becomes meaningful.

leetcrew 7y ago

> I think is the belief that a huge part of the value of a bachelors degree is growth you get living alone, in dorms, learning how to be an adult, etc. that aren't really part of a curriculum and would be hard or impossible to do online. a counterexample would be the existence of respected schools with a large amount of commuter students, many of whom continue to live with their parents while going to school. I graduated from such a place. if you really wanted (in cs at least), you could only show up in class for exams and still get an A if you did all the homeworks and projects. this school is one of the most heavily targeted in the state for tech recruiting. > In addition, I know that a massive number of people who take online courses (just the individual ones from Coursera and the like) tend to drop out, so maybe they colleges think that if they had an entire 4yr degree online almost no one would actually graduate (which may hurt their rankings or they dislike for some other reason that doesn't bother for profit colleges). this is a bit more convincing. online schools already have a stigma since the originals were almost (or actually) scams. probably no one want to take the risk of offering the first online degree.

indigochill 7y ago

> know that a massive number of people who take online courses (just the individual ones from Coursera and the like) tend to drop out This is one of those statistics that (I think) misses the context. In college, you complete courses for credit which generally requires sitting through the whole thing. On Coursera and the like, you typically take the course because there's something in there you want to learn. A particular learner may only be interested in a piece of the overall course and so ignore the parts they're not interested in while focusing on those they are. The engagement paradigm is different on every level from traditional courses, so I don't think it's meaningful to talk about "drop out" rates in that context. Where it may be more meaningful is to look at drop out rates of students who have paid to take the course for a certificate. In that case, they have signaled intent to complete the course, so talking about a drop out rate becomes meaningful.