156,000 students can't all be wrong

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3389139.stm

It's always nice to have a DL success story!

Angela

 

That is nice to hear. I know OU had a presence in the States for awhile, but I believe that is no longer the case (I know they shut down their US website)? If that's the case, it's a shame. OU seems to really know how to deliver, and there is certainly a market here.

 

as far as I know they dont offer any program in Canada either. They are only concentrating EU I guess.

 

They opened an affiliated school, the US Open University. It was quickly accredited by DETC (and just as quickly given candidacy for accreditation by Middle States). But low enrollments didn't justify keeping it open. You know how those not-for-profits schools are: no thought about students or service to the community. Just shut it down if it doesn't make any money....

(Would a for-profit school shut it down? Maybe. Or maybe they would have found a way to make it work.)

 

As I mentioned in another thread http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11628 all of the OU online courses are available anywhere in the world. The list is available at http://www3.open.ac.uk/near-you/worldwide/countries/worldwide.shtm

http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11494 contains a link to the Middle States page, showing that the OU is now a candidate for RA.

My only gripe about the OU is the extremely rigid starting dates. Although some do now have start dates other than February, or even run more than once a year, they are as rare as roc's eggs! They have an excellent economics course that I wanted to take before applying for an MBA, but registration is already closed and the course doesn't run again until next February!

Angela

 

only courses not full degree programs. When last I checked with them they said they dont offer any degree programs in Canada. I think US residents can take up their degree programs.

 

Yup. The graduate programs that attracted me, in the humanities, were all restricted to residents of the European Union and Switzerland. I'm sure it has to do with tax treaties between UK and those countries, but I certainly found it annoying. Why not just offer the programs, though with more expensive tuition for people like me who live out of jurisdiction? Maybe the school would even earn a little money.

Peter

 

well I would say this is a DL success story only for EU. . Not true DL university as it should be.