Earlier this year, Perry proposed that State Public Institutions offer a $10,000 Bachelor's Degree. Considering I already have $10,000 racked up in Student Loans, and I'm not even done with my Associates Degree, I must say this is a tempting proposal to support. However, after a little more research, I've deemed it extremely unrealistic.
Currently, Bachelor's Degrees cost over $31,000 for 4 years, not including books. Even if the entire Bachlor's degree is offered online, there are still professors that have to grade the papers, respond to student e-mails, and develop the coursework. Some argue that there is nothing wrong with having grad students grade the work and using published lectures as the basis for the class. If it's a literature course, then instead of using books that are still under copyright, use books that are not and sell for extremely low costs. As tempting as this sounds, as a student, I would not take these classes regardless of how cheap they were. I also have to question how effective these courses are. I'm currently in 2 online courses, and the difference between them is remarkable. My Texas Government class has a teacher that sends out weekly e-mails, has the class interact online through discussion boards, and write a blog. My other course, Introduction to Theater, has a teacher that never sends out e-mails except to confirm the receipt of our 2 play analysis. There aren't even reminders about when our tests are due. Everything we are learning is through the book. Personally, I don't think I'm retaining any of the information past the test. I do not think that online courses using published lectures would be effective. Students need some interaction with the professor and with others in the course.
College is not only about learning, its a time to meet new people, interact with others, and develop socially. If everything was offered online, people would lose their social skills even more than they have already with the rise of texting and emailing. Students already have issues interacting with people, and it shows when they get out into the workforce. If the opportunity to meet and interact with people in college is taken away, I can't even imagine how that would effect people even more.
Don't get me wrong, a $10,000 bachelor's degree would be fabulous to offer, but maybe for people that have already worked in the field and are just coming back to get their credentials. If they stripped down the required courses for a degree, and get rid of the core classes that most people take in the first 2 years of college, I have no doubt that the Texas Public Institutions would have any difficulty getting the price to $10,000. If someone has already been working in the field for 5+ years, and just needs the degree to check off a box in order to move up, there's no reason they should have to take the basics. They have already earned their respect in the workforce, it's just this one task that is keeping them from advancing. If this type of degree was offered, it should come with prerequisites. There are already certifications that have these types of requirements, such as the Certified Meeting Planner. The CMP certification requires the meeting planner must have a minimum of three years professional meeting planning experience or two years work experience with a specific meeting planning degree. There is no reason that a stripped down Bachelor's degree couldn't have the same type of requirements.
As where I think that offering a normal Bachelor's degree for $10,000 is absurd, I see no reason why a stripped down version of a Bachelor's degree could not be offered to those that already have work experience in the field that they are coming back to get their degree in. Online courses in this situation would make sense because the students would more than likely be working full-time while taking classes, and they already have background knowledge that will help them with their coursework.
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