University of Massachusetts president lays out plans for online college to serve adult students

[TexasTowelie]

University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan laid out a plan on Monday to create a new “online college” for adult students that he said could become the system’s bulwark against increasing financial pressures on college campuses caused by competition for fewer college-aged students.

Meehan, in his annual speech to state leaders and the university community, said that in the coming months he would be meeting with senior officials and faculty on all five of the university's campuses to plan a "new online college focused solely on adult learners." He hopes the online college will gain a national profile.

The college, as described by Meehan, will offer degree completion programs, "rapid response" to workforce demand and customized credential programs for employers.

Meehan said he presented the university board of trustees last fall with a model for the online college that would "allow us to rapidly scale this platform through strategic partnerships, while implementing best practices in digital education for adult learners." The revenue generated from the online programs will be returned to the campuses, he said.

Read more: https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/03/university-of-massachusetts-president-lays-out-plans-for-online-college-to-serve-adult-students.html

[exboyfil]

1. Aren't virtually all college students adults?

They mention Purdue Global which is slapping Purdue's name on Kaplan. I am still pretty upset about it.

I want to know if the credits pursued transfer to the main UMass system. Right now I have not found a transfer credit chart for Purdue Global and no articulation agreement exists.

Online is a great idea if you have a plan like my daughters did. It allowed both to get their four year degrees in two years from well respected colleges (Iowa State for the Mechanical Engineering degree and Allen College (a hospital affiliated college) for the Nursing degree. The education for the online community college classes is not at the level of the public universities, but, at the end of the day, it is about getting the credential anyway. The important classes for the degrees are still taken at the colleges awarding the B.S.

You can tell what's up with Purdue Global when you research the Accounting and Nursing degrees - they are more expensive than the other degrees. In particular the Accounting degree is significantly more expensive.