The Coming Online World of the College Drop-In

Eric Rabkin:

Every day, students find it easier to take courses anywhere and anytime and accumulate them into a degree at a growing number of fully accredited institutions. StraighterLine, which Fast Company calls "An eBay For Professors To Sell College Courses Directly To Students", offers general education courses at $999/year for 10 courses. According to the Education Advisory Board, over 250 institutions across America, from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, have accepted at least some of these credits. Without their captive audience, how will most schools survive? One answer, I call "the college drop-in." In the long run, the drop-in phenomenon should drive a very desirable revolution for educational institutions, for individuals, and for business.

Harvard Business School already outsources one of its entry-level courses to Brigham Young University because the online offering is "so good," freeing HBS resources--including faculty--for more specialized work. HBS students become BYU drop-ins, and both institutions--and their students--win. Similarly, under-enrolled courses in any specialized subject, for example rarely taught languages or advanced seminars in string theory--can meet their enrollment targets by inviting properly qualified drop-ins from vetted institutions.

Institutions and individuals waste resources--classroom seats--when a course is dropped or unsuccessfully completed. Instead of remaining in residence, a student can retake a single course--or even a single course module--online while working elsewhere in the summer, or in any other semester, dropping in to back and fill or, for underprepared students, dropping in for review or prerequisites so that when they do occupy those seats, they will succeed. Learning success and lowered total costs obviously serve the drop-in student.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 8, 2013 12:51 AM
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