OSU Online

I was driving downtown in the rain during the holiday season. I noticed on the back of two buses in front of me ads for “OSU Online.” I had my camera with me and took pictures.

Oregon State University does offer a variety of courses online. For undergraduates they charge $226 per credit for online courses. That’s $75 more than the $151 per credit for non-online courses at OSU (here).

Portland Community College, on the other hand, charges its regular $74 per credit plus $20 more per course for online courses (here).

The University of Phoenix, for another example, charges $395 per credit for Management and Business courses online (here).

Of course, the University of the People charges no tuition fees only registration and exam fees (here).

Back in July, 2009, Nicole Egland wrote an opinion article “Offline Education” in PSU’s Daily Vanguard that said (here):

Comparing PSU to two other colleges from the Oregon University System, Oregon State and University of Oregon, it fits somewhere in the middle. UO does not offer any undergraduate degrees online, and few classes fully online. However, Oregon State University offers at least six undergraduate degrees, four graduate degrees and five certificates fully online, not to mention a number of online courses. Portland State offers only one undergraduate course fully online, although they are in the process of designing a degree in liberal arts online. Across the border, even Washington State University has more degrees and courses online than PSU, the largest school in Oregon!...

….When it comes to what is most beneficial for what makes this college run—the students—offering a variety of online choices makes the most sense. Consider the all too common PSU student who must work to support themselves, while also attending classes at Portland State. Or the student who travels a number of miles to get here. Or even the student who has a family to care for. An online PSU would serve these students far better, while attracting others like them.

What is the incentive to stay enrolled at PSU when some students have to choose between paying the bills and staying in school. They could transfer to another university (such as OSU or WSU) that caters more to their needs allowing them work a full-time job all without missing any class time. This is the sort of issue that online courses could address.