November 02, 2023
The Dept. of Ed. v. Online Learning
Former U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett writes: It won’t surprise many readers of Inside Higher Ed that online learning has become a fixture of higher education. In fact, most college students today probably can’t imagine not taking courses online. Six in 10 undergraduates enrolled in at least one online class in 2021.
Evidence shows students are overwhelmingly satisfied with distance learning options: a remarkable 98 percent of students in online programs and 96 percent of graduates say they would recommend online education to their peers. It will surprise readers, then, that President Biden’s Department of Education is now seeking to crack down on the businesses that help universities develop, implement and deploy online programs. This regulation in search of a problem threatens to stifle innovation and make higher education less accessible, especially for minority and economically disadvantaged students.
Evidence shows students are overwhelmingly satisfied with distance learning options: a remarkable 98 percent of students in online programs and 96 percent of graduates say they would recommend online education to their peers. It will surprise readers, then, that President Biden’s Department of Education is now seeking to crack down on the businesses that help universities develop, implement and deploy online programs. This regulation in search of a problem threatens to stifle innovation and make higher education less accessible, especially for minority and economically disadvantaged students.