I have received lots of positive feedback from my recent Mises article on the state of the University. One of those was from Larry Sanger, one of the founders of Wikipedia and a director of the Digital Universe project. He mentioned that he wrote a manifesto some ten years ago that discussed some of the same ideas. To this end, Forbes recently published an article discussing the ramifications of Stanford offering free podcasts (i.e. you no longer need to spend $30,000 to get the same education; see also Apple’s new program ‘iTunes U’). And to make everyone happy inside, I bumped into an article from Gary North discussing the non-marketability a PhD is in today’s saturated marketplace.
Having all of this knowledge under my belt, I spent about an hour compiling a tangible list (as seen below), to answer the question: “what will businesses and the populace as a whole think of someone who earns a degree from an online entity?”
U.S. News & World Reports has catalogued numerous institutions that operate extensive distance education and online classes. While some programs are relatively restrictive (i.e. requiring that you take some classes at their physical campus) many others offer fully-customizable degree plans that can be taken exclusively online. Below is a list of nationally renowned accredited college’s that offer multiple majors for undergraduates, graduates and professionals.
Note: I do not plan on updating this list, it is merely an illustration as to where the industry is heading. In no particular order:
University of Tennessee
University of Florida
Florida State University
University of Maryland
University of Maryland University College
Iowa State University
George Washington University
Rutgers University
Boise State University
Washington State University
University of Washington
University of Colorado System
Connecticut State University System
University of Oklahoma System
University of Nebraska System
University of Nebraska
University of North Dakota
University of Missouri
Northeastern University
Auburn University
State University of New York
Seton Hall
University of Georgia
Texas Tech University
Oregon State University
Indiana State University
Embry-Riddle University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
University of North Carolina
Montana State University
Michigan State University
Illinois Institute of Technology
University of Illinois
Syracuse University
University of Pittsburgh
University of Waterloo
University of Toronto
Open University
University of North Texas
University of Denver
Arizona State University
University of Delaware
University of South Carolina
Boston University
Kansas State University
Harvard
Stanford
University of Southern California
Pepperdine
UCLA
New Jersey Institute of Technology
University of Hawaii
Rochester Institute of Technology
In addition, both the University of Oklahoma and Texas Tech offer dual-credit highschool distance education programs allowing high school kids to earn both a diploma and credits toward a college degree at the same time. Also, EPGY from Stanford and CTY from Johns Hopkins offer similar services for young “gifted and talented” students.
Mainstream? Yes. Innovative? Perhaps. Legitimate? Depends on who you talk to apparently.
And speaking of creative solutions for virtual interaction, check out the 3DLearning Academy, which uses fully immersive digital avatars to interact with students in grades 7-12. Perhaps one day someone will design a full lineup of courses to be played in the World of Warcraft (questing brings on a new meaning). Perhaps the two million homeschooled kids can figure out some way to both implement and capitalize off such an innovation.