Robocolleges are a mix of for-profit and non-profit online colleges, both secular and Christian. Their focus is on automation and reduced costs, particularly labor costs:
Instruction is delivered through automated Learning Management Systems (LMS) and online platforms, relying less on professors and more on pre-recorded lectures and automated grading. Even support staff are being replaced by chatbots.
While some qualified individuals might be involved, educational content is often developed by large teams with varying expertise, potentially sacrificing quality for cost-effectiveness.
Marketing and advertising continue to be costly. But targeting marketing (e.g. targeting military service members and veterans, teachers, nurses, and government workers in low-income neighborhoods) can improve cost efficiency.
Robocolleges offer degrees with a wide range of value to consumers (return on investment versus debt). For people who need a degree (or an advanced degree) to play the game in government and medicine, these credentials may have value.
Competency-based education and credits for life experience reduce the number of courses some students need to graduate. Servicemembers going to Purdue Global, for example, can get an AA with as few as five college courses and a BS with as little as seven additional courses.
Cheating is probably easier for online students who are so inclined and whether these companies care is not really known.
Southern New Hampshire (SNHU) continues to be the growth and efficiency leader, with the highest enrollment, more than 160,000 students. SNHU is also experimenting with artificial intelligence to reduce labor costs. In addition, SNHU works with
Guild (aka Guild Education), which recruits workers from Walmart, Target, Waste Management, and other large employers.
Grand Canyon (for-profit) and Liberty University (non-profit) target Christians for online credentials. But oppressive debt is a concern with some of their programs. Social mobility for students is subpar.
Purdue University Global and University of Arizona, Global Campus are two former for-profit colleges now owned by state universities. Information about their financial status is sketchy. Like SNHU, Purdue Global works with Guild to recruit working folks.
Purdue Global owes its online program manager. Kaplan Education, about $128 million. Arizona Global has had financial difficulties which have affected the University of Arizona's bottom line.
The University of Phoenix has returned to profitability by reducing instruction and student services by $100 million a year and legal costs by $50 million a year. Consumers continue to file fraud complaints by the tens of thousands. And debt is an enormous problem with former students. It's not apparent whether Phoenix can maintain such enormous profits, but its future as a non-profit affiliated with the University of Idaho may reduce its tax burden and legal liabilities.
Here are the most recent numbers from the US Department of Education College Navigator:
American Intercontinental University: 89 full-time instructors for 14,333 students.
American Public University System has 332 F/T instructors for 48,688 students.
Aspen University has 27 F/T instructors for 7,386 students.
Capella University: 180 F/T for 39,727 students.
Colorado State University Global: 40 F/T instructors for 9,565 students.
Colorado Technical University: 55 F/T instructors for 24,808 students.
Devry University online: 61 F/T instructors for 26,384 students.
Grand Canyon University has 550 F/T instructors for 101,816 students.*
Liberty University: 735 F/T for 96,709 students.*
Purdue University Global: 337 F/T instructors for 45,125 students.
South University: 41 F/T instructors for 7,707 students.
Southern New Hampshire University: 130 F/T for 164,091 students.
University of Arizona Global Campus: 122 F/T instructors for 34,190 students.
University of Maryland Global: 177 F/T instructors for 55,838 students.
University of Phoenix: 80 F/T instructors for 88,891 students.
Walden University: 235 F/T for 42,312 students.
*Most F/T faculty serve the ground campuses that profit from the online schools.
Related links:
Robocolleges, Artificial Intelligence, and the Dehumanization of Higher Education (2023)
No comments:
Post a Comment