Blueprint for a new online/virtual college

Dear experts,

I have posted this thread in hope it would become a guide or blueprint for any business/organisation thinking of starting a new online/virtual school.

I would like to hear how a new school can prevent being automatically called a diploma mill or scam.

Here is a few key points to kick this off.

1. the .edu thing. A school cannot get this straight away, or can it?

2. What if the school doesn't want accreditation?

3. If a school wants accreditation from a "recognised" agency, does it need to be in operation for a certain period of time before it can apply.

4. If the school is non-US based, should the ODA opinion have any validity?

5. If a school only offers courses online, should it have a campus anyway? i.e. for the effect / prestige

6. Should the school offer credits for prior learning etc. If so, what should be the maximum percentage to graduate.

I know many people have different views here, which is great.

Please add serious advise to this thread, so new schools can avoid pitfalls and of course, the inevitable pre-judgement by the less informed individuals here.

I am sure there is a lot more things to consider, such as faculty, full or part time, faculty credentials etc.

I invite your serious comments.

Thank you

 

long story short... you need a budget 5 million bucks to start with something that does not turn into a degree mill. Why you need that much in investment is something I will leave it to the rest of the participants to discuss

 

That sounds a little high for something operating online.

I think there are schools offline operating with less budget than that.

 

I am not kidding. You need to be in operation for at leat 2 years before you can apply for accreditation... till then you have to be state licensed as far as I know. That costs money... how? There's getting your courses and sylabus reviewed from authorities in the state you are operating, including salaries of staff as well as those who will establish your curriculum. In addition you need IT infrastructure, marketing research and programs, instructional design among other things. I will post more on this in the evening when I am at home since I too would like be able to teach online one day.

 

I have read in other posts that to do it right you could need up to $10MILL in initial investment capital, assuming that you want to be competitive and attract students.

I know that you have to be in operation for two full years prior to being able to get DETC accreditation; I do not know what other agencies require.

I suspect that a good chunk of that money needs to go to advertising, which can pull hard on a budget to get the exposure. I also suspect that successfully dealing with local and state requirements for legitimacy require time and money.

A million bucks ain’t what it used to be, don’t get to starry eyed at the figures.

Bubba

 

I have a better idea

Hi Fred,

I would like to quote someone on this actually... not naming names but rest assured, this is a person I would consider to have a lot of experience in operating an online school!

Don't get me wrong! I would jump at the first opportunity of starting an online school, but it is just too much of a commitment from an entrepreneural point of view, in terms of time, effort and money. Maybe I will be in a position to do so someday, but that day is not today for me at least... Maybe I can start by teaching first and gaining experience.

 

Also...

If that is true, how do you account for Rushmore University http://www.rushmore.edu and Atlantic International University http://www.aiu.edu ?

 

The cheapest way to open an accredited online school is:


-Put an ad in the chronicle for online faculty. You will get tons of cvs from qualified faculty from all over the world. Select the ones with impressive credentials for your university catalog.

-Apply for "liberian" accreditation to degreetoday.com

http://www.degreetoday.com


-Create a fancy website with the names of the faculty compiled from your ad in the chronicle. Faculty will be hired on a free-lance based so there is no need to spend money for salaries at the beginning.


The liberian accreditation can be paid as you "go" so there is no need to invest initially and you will only pay for the degrees that you sell.

This way you start your accredited school for only few thousand dollars. There is no need for curriculum investment as degrees can be research based and supervised by the prestigious free-lance faculty. Don't forget to sign a contract with the faculty where they allow you to use their name for your catalog.

 

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread so far.

I have been doing some more research on this for the benefit of this thread.

The cost of courses could be reduced by a school using outsourcing, like at.

http://www.learninghouse.com

Then faculty, working part time, could be paid only for when they actually login and work?

P.S.

Whilst searching for info today, I came across a search site:

http://www.searchking.com

when I visited, my norton antivirus said it had some kind of explorer "exploit" virus in it.

BEWARE

 

Let me test that link Fred. I am using linux so it wouldn't metter. I can boldly go where no windoze program has gone before or wants to for that matter...

Hmm they seem to have moved their site to a "new location". Maybe they themselves don't know that their site is infected... many such scripts can creep through explorer

 

We had a previous thread on a similar subject: How do DL institutions begin?

With regard to costs, this comment from Mary A (president of Aspen University) is relevant:

• Speaking of money - it takes a lot, more than a lot, if you are going to do it right, we had a million in 1987 - funded by one of the founders - and it was not enough to do everything right- in our case marketing suffered. That was the right thing to do, and our small but untarnished reputation proves is our reward but it hurt us - you need marketing to get students... I wouldn't try it today without a minimum of 10M in the bank or committed.

 

I had not come across this thread before oxpecker! Loads of information in there.. thanks a lot for sharing!