Ground Schools Benefit From Offering Online Courses

Higher education institutions have faced state funding cuts due to today's poor economy. In response, colleges across the country are looking for financially conscious "ways to operate more efficiently." But the point is that colleges need more money. One possible solution to funding issues would be to recruit more out-of-state students, who pay higher tuition rates to attend a school than in-state students do. Traditional ground schools are beginning to offer online course options for students interested in distance learning.

The University of California Commission on the Future recently discussed these issues and released a report detailing solutions to decreased state funding. The panel is made up of professors, students, alumni and school officials. Two key points addressed in the report were that UC "must enroll more out-of-state students and increase its number of online courses."

The UC network includes ten different campus locations across the state of California. Overall, the school's out-of-state enrollment rate is only at 6 percent. Two of UC's campuses, UC Berkeley and UCLA have out-of-state enrollment rates over 10 percent. But the remaining eight campuses have far less numbers of out-of-state students enrolled.

Some fear that an increase in out-of-state students might displace California state residents, which could potentially have a negative effect on the California public school system. George Blumenthal, UC Santa Cruz Chancellor said that the school has, at first, an obligation to in-state students. But others agree that the future of higher education lies in nontraditional education methods such as online learning. To stay competitive with other schools across the country and even around the world, UC must adapt.

Lawrence Piotts, UC Provost said that "well into the future, there may be the possibility of an entirely online UC degree." This option would allow out-of-states students to earn their degree from UC without relocating to one of its campuses. But for now, smaller steps will be taken toward increasing the amount of online courses offered to students by the school.

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