University of Phoenix Investors Smile All the Way to the Bank

I sent some correspondence last week to a Phoenix counselor regarding the estimated cost of their doctoral programs. It looks like this:

The program, expected to be three years, has a total cost of $44,089. Of that amount $36,890 is tuition (62 credits at $595 per credit), housing for residencies at $2,014, airfare at approximately $1,500, meals estimated at about $285, and books will cost about $3,400. Now that's a tall order. Yet, many people are opting for the online convenience of Phoenix's program.

CNN.com reported this past weekend that schools offering online programs are doing quite well. They cited Concord and Phoenix, giving some acalades to Concord for a relatively successful passage of the California Bar. But most interesting to me was the statement that "The University of Phoenix Online even successfully persuades students to pay 15 percent more for studying in a virtual classroom. Its president, Brian Mueller, said the premium covers high start-up costs of the technology infrastructure, technology support and faculty training fees." Well, I'm sure the investors are happy, especially when one considers that "five of the top 25 growth companies selected by Business Week magazine are education firms, which cite online education as their future profit driver." I wonder what all of this does for the quality (admittedly a very subjective term) of "higher" education.

It would be most interesting to see a study on how the graduates do in terms of their objectives that led them to the programs in the first place.