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Increasing Access and Relevance in Distance Education

by ROBERT W. MENDENHALL , March 20, 2009

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Access to higher education is subject to many factors including affordability, time and geography. Distance education can deliver education to those that live far from a campus. Some of that distance education may be synchronous, or live, requiring students to be available at certain times. Flexibility and access are increased when the instruction is asynchronous, allowing students to access it at times convenient to them. But the biggest issue with time is not flexibility but the amount of time required and the relevance of the time spent. Students with existing competencies should not have to spend time or money on material they already know. Finally, technology-based education, at scale, should be inherently more affordable, if we are using the power of technology to teach and not simply as a means of delivery.

What is the potential of these changes to the higher education model through harnessing the power of technology? At WGU, tuition is under $6,000 for a 12-month year. The average time to graduation is under three years. And students and employers report that graduates are equipped with all the necessary competencies to excel.

There is a better way, if we are willing to change.

— Dr. Robert W. Mendenhall is president of Western Governors University and served on the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education.



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