It wasn’t long ago that almost every prospective college student “knew” that earning a college degree online was probably far cheaper than earning one in person.
This, not only because of the higher costs associated with living on campus or commuting to one daily…
But because credit hours were assumed to be cheaper to earn online, rather than in-person; even from schools that offered both options. Now, for a long time, much of this has been true.
However, for many institutions, things have changed. And they’ve changed a lot. And it’s this change that has some prospective online college students scratching their heads.
Take Emma Bitner, for example. She was recently interviewed by NPR[1] about her experience in pursuing a master’s degree in public health.
The on-campus program she looked into was far too expensive for her. So, she began researching the online version… which cost the same!
Commenting on the similarity in cost she said, “I’m, like, what makes this worth it? Why does it cost that much if I don’t get meetings face-to-face with the professor or have the experience in person?”
Now, if we use data from the Education Data Initiative, we can add some color to Emma’s comments. The EDI shows the average in-state public university charges $341 per credit hour for online classes, but just $325 in person.[2]
And get this, a recent report from QualityMatters.org showed that 83% of online college programs cost students just as much, OR MORE, than the in-person version.[3]
But why does online learning now generally cost more than in person learning?
Well, if you operate a primarily online institution, the following fact should give you a big advantage over traditional colleges and universities that offer both in-person and online courses.
As it turns out, many of the large colleges and universities with traditional brick-and-mortar campuses are subsidizing in-person learning with fees from online learners.
Qualitymatters.org shows 60% of public colleges and universities, and over half of private institutions take in more money from online learning than they spend…[4]
With about half of them saying they put the revenue from online learners back into the schools’ general operating budgets. Or, more simply, online learners are paying for in-person learners to, well, learn.
Apparently, this is an “accounting” practice that’s been occurring at traditional colleges for a long time.
Is this unfair to online only students? Yes.
Is the “new” cost of online learning detracting some students from enrolling? Yes, unfortunately it is.
But…
If you operate a primarily online institution, you may have the ability to do something the brick-and-mortars can’t, or won’t…
Be highly competitive with your credit hour pricing.
You see, there are tens of thousands of prospective students that want to enroll in college but simply can’t. The issue they’re having is the cost. By showing them that your school can offer a wonderful education at a lower cost than brick-and-mortar, and its online course versions…
You may very well have a massive leg up when it comes to enrollment time.
But, in order for this to happen, you’ll need to talk with prospects. And that’s where Conversion Media Group comes in.
CMG is a national leader in higher education enrollment initiatives. Through the use of our digital marketing efforts, and our US-based owned and operated contact centers, we’re able to drive highly qualified Edu leads directly into your enrollment department…
Including high-intent live transfer leads!
To see what CMG can do for your enrollment, give us a call at 1-800-419-3201 or click HERE to set up an appointment.
[1] Why is online college so expensive? : NPR
[2] Cost of Online Education vs. Traditional Education [2024]: Comparison
[3] CHOE 9 – Strategy Shift: Institutions Respond to Sustained Online Demand
[4] CHOE 9 – Strategy Shift: Institutions Respond to Sustained Online Demand