College tuition bills are climbing steadily and from the ways things have been going, there appears to be no end to tuition hikes in sight. Fewer students can now afford to pay for a public university education without first taking out a huge loan. Even wealthier families are now struggling to make ends meet. Yet, despite all of this, college tuition figures continue to stubbornly grow. The cost of attending a public university has increased by more than 15 percent in the past ten years, U.S. News asserts. This increase in tuition can be accounted to schools charging their students for services like security and counseling. The fact that state taxpayer subsidies have gone dramatically down also drives colleges to charge more for education.
However, out of all of the hubbub, online education has come out on top. Online schools often cost much less than campus-based programs, especially after factoring in the numerous additional fees that many campus-based programs tack onto the bill on top of tuition. These fees include housing fees, meal fees, undergraduate fees, and many more that can add thousands of dollars to tuition. Online schools typically only charge their students for the class and nothing else. At a time when many students are now also trying to support themselves by working full-time jobs, attending a less costly school is an excellent plan. Traditionally, only adults going back to school earn their degrees online, but now many new high school graduates are choosing digital educations as well.
Also supporting the popularity of online education is the fact that it is just as effective a learning tool as classroom education. In fact, online education has also been shown to be more effective than classroom education, according to a study published by the U.S. Department of Education. In the study, researchers found that those who took online-classroom hybrid courses performed the best, but more surprisingly, that online-only students outperformed their classroom counterparts. In addition, many employers now do not discriminate against online and traditional degrees when hiring candidates for a position.
All of these factors have lead online education to become a popular choice for working adults and new high school graduates alike. While online education will not replace brick-and-mortar campuses anytime soon, its surge in demand proves that traditional campus educators need to offer more incentive to win their students back.
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