High DL Costs at Some Institutions

In another post, there is a link to a 60-Minutes piece on University of Phoenix. I thought their program was expensive until someone called attention to Duke's online MBA with a price tag of $70,000.

For those of you in "the know," does it cost institutions more to do DL programs? Or is this simply a case where institutions are exploiting the opportunity to charge high fees because of the "convenience" of online programs? They seem to charge more for their DL programs than their residential programs. I noticed the same thing with California State University Hayward. One pays more for the online graduate program that one would pay if it was done residentially.

I've stated in a previous post that most of the DL only schools like Capella and Walden also have rather high fees. I know there are exceptions (like University of Nebraska at Lincoln's Ed.D. program). However doctoral programs as a whole seem to require a second-mortgage, a couple student loans or something close.

It is unfortunate to have the desire, the capacity and the qualifications, but to be unable to pursue doctoral work or any graduate work for that matter because of the high costs.

This much we can say: If only because of costs, DL is surely not for the masses.

Your comments are welcome.

 

Is there really a difference?

I suppose the question that needs to be asked first is, "Does the UoP charge more for tuition in the online program than it does for its on-campus program?" Perhaps someone who is doing the online program could compare notes with someone who is enrolled in an on-campus program.

As for Duke, the tuition for its DL MBA runs more like $95,000. But a check of their website reveals that this also includes books and other class materials, and meals and lodging while students are at each of the five residency sites. You can access this information at:

http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/admin/gemba/admissions/tuition_finaid.html

The traditional MBA program at Duke costs about $44,300 per year, according to Duke's cost estimate (which can be accessed at http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/admin/stuserv/fin_aid/costestimate.html ) for that degree. The total for two years would be about $88,600. This includes books, the cost of living in the Duram area, etc. The cost difference between the traditional and the DL program is less than $7,000. When you consider that the DL tuition package includes room and board, which can be exteremely expensive away from home, the costs for attending the DL program don't seem so extraordinary when they are compared to costs for the traditional deal. Note that the DL program costs listed by Duke don't include transportation to the residince sites, but that is an additional expense not charged to the student by Duke. It is charged by the airlines.

As for other schools, I don't think that they do generally charge more for DL courses than they do for traditional courses. I know that LSU and the U of Iowa, for two examples, charge the same for DL courses as they charge for state residents in the traditional courses. Whether or not this is typical of most schools that offer DL would require a little research. I agree that someone "in the know" has probably already looked into this. If not, it may require some new research.

Tracy<><

 

Re: Is there really a difference?

Guess it all depends on the school. UoL advertises their DL courses as being substantially less than on campus courses. USQ is only slightly higher than on campus attendence as I am being charged the non-Australian citizen rate. My online Stanford courses are less then 1/3 of on campus attendence!

Christian