In an effort to answer the issues posed by state budget cuts, many academic officials are proposing that their employers increase their online college course offerings.
For example, administrators from a California-based university recently presented a plan for an online bachelors degree program to the school’s board of regents, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The presenters detailed a plan for a four-year program that would include 25 to 40 web-based courses, which would focus mainly on general education subjects such as science and math. They said that this program could help the school survive a reduction in funds from the state, as it would increase the number of tuition-paying students without putting a strain on the campus’s resources.
Several other schools across the nation have already successfully launched similar college programs online, which have the same admissions and curriculum requirements as their campus-based offerings.
Education experts anticipate that more web-based courses will be needed in the future, as recent research from the Sloan Consortium indicates that enrollment in online classes is far outpacing the general demand for higher education.