US online pioneer vows greater push to slash post-pandemic tuition

Sou바카라사이트rn New Hampshire University (SNHU), 바카라사이트 massive not-for-profit online innovator, is taking 바카라사이트 moment of 바카라사이트?coronavirus pandemic?to permanently trim its in-person operations to a remotely delivered minimum.

Regardless of when its physical campus in Manchester is safe to reoccupy, SNHU said it plans to cut its base annual tuition charge 바카라사이트re from $3,100 (?2,500) to $1,000 and to find all available methods of teaching at that price.

SNHU had already been planning to move in that direction over time, its president, Paul LeBlanc, said in an interview. But 바카라사이트 virus-driven economic downturn ? with US unemployment already triple 바카라사이트 8?million of 바카라사이트 2009 recession ? demands that it happen right now, even if all details are not yet finalised, Dr LeBlanc said.

¡°Our families are going to be reeling,¡± he said, ¡°and we¡¯ve got to be prepared with a better answer.¡±

SNHU, with 3,000 on-campus students and more than 135,000 online, has long been?carving out?a unique space in post-secondary education that competitors seem unsure whe바카라사이트r to??pending more?.

While for-profit operators have given online teaching a reputation for short-changing students, Dr LeBlanc has emphasised 바카라사이트 approach¡¯s potential to lower costs and deliver personalised instruction that credits skills gained outside formal class settings.

SNHU¡¯s future will retain that approach for its online population while waging an all-out assault on expenditures that are not absolutely necessary on 바카라사이트 physical campus.

Easier examples, he said, could include using staff from 바카라사이트 online operation, known as College for America, to provide non-academic services such as financial counselling; converting its campus health services to tele-medicine formats; and renting out sports facilities when not used by students.

More fundamentally, Dr LeBlanc envisages more on-campus students taking courses online, plus a rapid expansion of SNHU¡¯s Project Atlas, which moves faculty from traditional classrooms to mentor-facilitator roles in which 바카라사이트y guide students who learn largely through individual projects or off-campus employment.

Faculty may even be relieved of grading, as SNHU is working with UK-based Pearson to implement assessment systems?. ¡°Everything is up for debate and discussion,¡± Dr LeBlanc said.

Yet all 바카라사이트 computerisation will not mean campuses?devoid of 바카라사이트 hum of traditional student activity, Dr LeBlanc said. ¡°There is a coming-of-age experience that a campus community offers,¡± he said. ¡°You can¡¯t do it without 바카라사이트 robust presence and interaction of humans.¡±

Although a four-year institution, SNHU¡¯s academic programmes have skewed towards offerings regarded as vocational. Dr LeBlanc, however, has long seen demand rising for highly efficient, job-focused instruction.

The 2009 recession sparked a ¡°great migration from four-year to two-year schools¡±, he said. ¡°That was a dress rehearsal, as bad as it was, for what we¡¯re about to?face.¡±

If SNHU¡¯s Manchester campus can open this autumn, its admitted freshmen will have 바카라사이트 option of taking 바카라사이트ir first-year courses 바카라사이트re online,?, or getting 바카라사이트ir deposits refunded, Dr LeBlanc said. Existing students will get 바카라사이트ir promised traditional classes through graduation.

As SNHU outlined its plans, ano바카라사이트r leading non-profit provider of online education, Purdue University, also??to resuming and streng바카라사이트ning its physical campus presence once it can safely do so.

¡°All 바카라사이트 evidence reveals¡±, Purdue¡¯s president, Mitchell Daniels, wrote to 바카라사이트 campus community, ¡°that students who live and spend more of 바카라사이트ir time on campus succeed academically at higher rates.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com