Education Direct: Huge price increases

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Kit, Oct 24, 2004.

Loading...
  1. Kit

    Kit New Member

    Just an alert about Thomson Education Direct. I got an email today from someone to whom I had recently recommended this company, she said the price I told her was way off.

    I checked and she's right. It seems they have increased prices of all their programs an average of about 36% per semester or per program, depending on whether students enroll in degree or certificate programs. All of their associate degree programs are now over $1,000 per semester and just about all their career training programs are also over $1,000 for the total price.

    Despite the fact that they are accredited by DETC for all their programs, ACE for some individual courses, and RA for their high school and vocational programs, 36% across the board is a huge price increase. Considering universities and community colleges that have complete RA accreditation are expanding their distance programs both for degrees and certificates, Education Direct may be pricing themselves right out of the market with these enormous increases. According to their site they send their associate degree students a new enrollment agreement for each semester, so I guess their current associates degree students can expect a nasty 36% surprise coming with their next semester.

    Kit
     
  2. sross

    sross member

    Kit,

    Oh those wonderful price increases! If their degrees aren't RA, I can't see any sense in anyone paying the tuition they're trying to charge.

    Sara
     
  3. jayncali73

    jayncali73 New Member

    Price increases....Who likes them? However, when you compare their prices to a community college- 15 units @ a CC costs 390.00, books for 5 classess approx. 500.00 and add health and parking fees-your close to a thousand bucks per semester. Ed Direct has good programs and I have found only a few schools that have not been willing to transfer my units. Their prices also include books and any other material your program needs. I still believe they are a good option if your looking for a quality, affordable education that you can work on at your own pace.
     
  4. Kit

    Kit New Member

    Good point. :)
    Still, 36% is a rather sizeable increase.

    Right, but in that case you're paying for an associate's degree that is completely RA so you have more flexibility in transfer. As long as students work closely with an advisor (such as "the upper level math course will transfer, but not the lower level") then they should have no problems entering a four-year university as a full junior. Also, you can eliminate the health insurance and parking fees if you go the DL route at a CC.

    Can you name any schools specifically that will accept Education Direct credits with no problems? I would continue to suggest ED as an alternative, but would love to be able to give examples of what schools accept their credits. The only RA school that I am aware of that will fully accept completed DETC degrees is Western Governor's. Other than that, as far as I know only the ACE reviewed courses will transfer but not the full degrees. For example, Thomas Edison State College will accept ACE reviewed courses, but for anything else the student must use CLEP or portfolio options to prove knowledge of the balance of their DETC degrees.

    Oh absolutely. It's just that I would be more likely to suggest DL programs at community colleges first before suggesting Ed Direct, especially now with the prices so similar. In fact, for California residents their local CC is likely to be much less expensive than Ed Direct, even with having to buy books and materials separately. Before the price increases I would have suggested Ed Direct first, especially to anyone for whom price is a major factor. But now those price considerations are moot. I would first suggest checking into DL programs at local RA community colleges, then only suggest Ed Direct as an alternative if that first option didn't work out.

    But it's not that I wouldn't recommend them at all anymore. Not everyone agrees, but I do think a degree that is mainly DETC is still better than no degree at all. Also, for some people DETC degrees with their traditionally very flexible self-paced completion times are essential.

    Kit
     
  5. jayncali73

    jayncali73 New Member

     
  6. RKanarek

    RKanarek Member

    Greetings.

    Regarding your recent post:

    Around here (Moscow on the Hudson, NYC, NY), community college classes taken `a la carte' cost around $180 per S/H credit. Although Education Direct would hardly be my first choice for a college, they may not be that expensive. <g>


    Cordially,
    Richard Kanarek
     
  7. DaveHayden

    DaveHayden New Member

    I thought Oregon was expensive at around $50-60 per term credit hour. Does ED have real classes or do just read the book and take the tests like Ashworth and CCU?
     
  8. jayncali73

    jayncali73 New Member

    Dave-

    Bascially you have a textbook and a syllabus. You work through the assignments and take your quizzes online. Of course, at the end of each semester you have timed, proctored exams.
    Most courses also have an accompanying research project. I believe they call them "graded projects". Most of the classes were about the same level of difficulty that I found at my local community college. What is missing is interaction with other students and/or instructors.
     
  9. Kit

    Kit New Member

    This is exactly what I have heard, from people online and offline, who have taken their vocational courses or degree programs. I can't speak from personal experience with them but do still recommend them because of mostly positive reports from others. The only negatives I have heard are specifically about their computer technology programs, which some have said use somewhat dated materials. Other than that I have heard nothing but positives.

    Education Direct and PCDI/Ashworth have something of a poor reputation that is probably no longer deserved but due to their pasts. Ed Direct used to be ICS (International Correspondence Schools), before they were purchased by Harcourt Learning and then purchased again by Thomson.

    ICS used to advertise on matchbook covers and had cheesy late-night commercials featuring Sally Struthers. PCDI/Ashworth used similar advertising techniques. But from what I understand Ed Direct's programs have been greatly improved since their purchase by those two publishing giants, so have their advertising avenues. They now advertise on the internet and through supermarket endcap door brochures, but so does the University of Phoenix, Kaplan, Capella, Keiser, and other more repected distance schools. But those schools don't have ICS/matchbook/Sally Struthers past impressions to overcome.

    Education Direct has done much to overcome it though, such as getting regional accreditation for the entirety of their high school and vocational programs. This accreditation is by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA) Middle States Commission on Higher Education, as can be seen at CHEA's link:
    http://www.chea.org/institutions/action.cfm?CheaID=509.0
    They have also gotten some of their individual courses, both in the degree and vocational programs, approved by ACE. They also have complete DETC accreditation like PCDI/Ashworth, but their additional accreditation is a plus.


    Thomson publishes textbooks through its Delmar Learning division and those texts are used in many community colleges that teach the same programs Ed Direct is offering, and they derive the teaching materials for their programs from the same texts and in some instances include those entire texts with their programs. So it's not surprising that you found the difficulty level the same as your local community college. But they do still have that past to overcome so I think they would be wise to keep their costs down, as PCDI/Ashworth has done, and not make their costs comparable to other online schools or community colleges. They may still be less expensive than many community colleges, as reflected in some of the posts here but California community colleges still charge only $18-$26 per credit and similar prices can likely be found in other states as well, if not Oregon and New York.

    I would still recommend Education Direct and Ashworth as well, with the only caveat being some of their programs specifically such as the computer-specific programs mentioned earlier. Also, before enrolling in any of Ed Direct's programs prospective students should check their state's laws to see if they meet any possible licensing requirements in their state. For example, last year I suggested to someone offline that they NOT take Ed Direct's Veterinary Technology degree program because their state's licensing requires that Vet Techs successfully complete an associate's degree program that is AVMA (American Veterinary Medicine Association) approved, and Ed Direct's is not. But checking such requirements is wise before enrolling in any school.

    Still though, considering their flexible and inexpensive programs I think these two (Ed Direct and Ashworth) are still a good choice, with Ed Direct probably the better choice considering their additional accreditation and anecdotal reports that Ed Direct's programs are tougher than Ashworth's. But completed degrees from either can be transferred into some RA bachelor's degree programs. They are also a good choice for people who already have some years experience in a field and want to back it up with a degree, or possibly for career-changers who already have an RA degree in another field.

    Kit
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 30, 2004
  10. Kit

    Kit New Member

    Too late to edit (again :)) the last post, but should add that although I would still recommend Education Direct, their recent price increases put them right at the very edge. Their additional accreditation is still fairly new and their old reputation remains, even if it isn't deserved anymore. Their recent price increases put them right at the very edge of offering less than what they are charging for, and for some of their specific programs they have already crossed that line.


    Kit
     

Share This Page