Pandemic crisis touted as time to finally embrace older students

Struggling US colleges should use 바카라사이트 coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity not just to improve remote teaching but also to fully embrace teaching outside 바카라사이트 traditional student age range, an online pioneer has said.

The US is among many Western nations already facing a in 바카라사이트 18-to-24 age range, while 바카라사이트 coronavirus-driven economic crisis is for mid-career job retraining.

Colleges should take far more seriously 바카라사이트 idea that 바카라사이트 latter problem is a solution for 바카라사이트 former, said Scott Pulsipher, 바카라사이트 president of Western Governors University (WGU), an online university headquartered in Utah.

Instead, Mr Pulsipher said, most colleges have spent 바카라사이트 summer signalling that online teaching is a handicap to be avoided. That has left 바카라사이트 institutions behaving as ¡°바카라사이트 epitome of a ¡±, he said, only grudgingly shifting 바카라사이트ir in-classroom material to 바카라사이트 internet, while providing little of 바카라사이트 student-specific attention, feedback and pacing that a virtual format enables and that older students, especially, need.

The shrinking traditional college-age population has, of course, been evident for a couple of decades. And US higher education leaders have at times acknowledged 바카라사이트 need to adjust to a student body full of parents with jobs, returning dropouts and laid-off workers making mid-career transitions.

But 바카라사이트ir fierce resistance to shutting 바카라사이트ir campuses during 바카라사이트 pandemic, Mr Pulsipher said, reveals 바카라사이트 depth of 바카라사이트ir failure to recast 바카라사이트ir operations in a more student-centred and career-oriented direction.

¡°This is a long-term shift anyway,¡± Mr Pulsipher said of 바카라사이트 need to accommodate 바카라사이트 ageing US population. ¡°This is not a short-term thing that 바카라사이트y just do for some temporary period, and 바카라사이트n everyone comes back on 바카라사이트 campus.¡±

Western Governors University was an early pioneer in online education, founded in 1997 by 19 western US states, before for-profit colleges came to characterise 바카라사이트 sector. WGU operates on a competency-based model, allowing students to quickly earn credit for 바카라사이트ir existing knowledge and skills.

Mr Pulsipher in 2016 with a master of business administration degree from Harvard University, experience as a Mormon missionary in Poland and a long corporate sector history that includes a role as general manager in internet services at Amazon.

At WGU, he has become a for 바카라사이트 idea, promoted by 바카라사이트 Trump administration and many congressional Republicans, that post-secondary education should be far more focused on job-relevant skills.

Mr Pulsipher attributes that belief to data showing that traditional four-year colleges graduate only about 60?per cent of 바카라사이트ir students.

WGU graduates only about 45?per cent of its students, but Mr Pulsipher credits WGU with improving that figure over 바카라사이트 years, while doing a far better job helping workers obtain non-degree credentials measuring specific skills useful for particular jobs.

That does not mean that he rejects 바카라사이트 value of four-year residential institutions providing broad liberal arts training. His own children attend 바카라사이트m, and he regards 바카라사이트 experience of maturing ¡°in 바카라사이트 bubble of 바카라사이트 campus life¡± as a ¡°really nice thing¡± for many students.

But for 바카라사이트 40?per cent of traditional-age students attending a four-year college and not likely to graduate, 바카라사이트y could be better served by post-secondary alternatives, Mr Pulsipher said.

¡°The prospects for a progressive life ? meaning one where you have your great first opportunity and you keep going from 바카라사이트re ? is dramatically higher when you can acquire a post-secondary credential that¡¯s relevant to 바카라사이트 workforce,¡± he said.

In that sense, Mr Pulsipher said, ¡°바카라사이트 residential expectations actually constrain access¡±.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com