Go Bears! UC Berkeley considering online degree option
Christopher Edley, dean of the University of California at Berkeley, has proposed a fully-online undergraduate degree program. The idea has been met with some skepticism within and outside of Berkeley. Personally, I think it’s a fantastic idea for schools to improve educational opportunities to students in all kinds of circumstances who, for all kinds of reasons, can’t complete a traditional on-campus program.
As someone who struggled to go to college as a working adult, I would have loved to have had an online option. Sometimes I worked nights and dragged myself, half-asleep and desperately clutching the biggest cup of coffee I could get my hands on, from the graveyard shift to the morning class. Sometimes I worked days and dashed from work to school to work to school to work. Once, I nearly failed an oral exam because the professor ran out of time to question everyone and I couldn’t stay after class or come early for the next one.
My college experience was not unique, of course. There are many more like me. And we’re the lucky ones—we may miss out on dorm life and study groups, but we still get to learn. Those in less-fortunate circumstances are precluded from attending college altogether. At least I was able to find a job with hours that allowed me to go to class. At least I had a loving and supportive husband who didn’t mind my absenteeism and frequent crankiness. At least I lived and worked in close proximity to my school. At least I had no children to support, aging parents to look after, or disabilities to overcome. Online degrees create opportunities for students who aren’t as lucky as I was. My own alma mater—small, urban, and under-resourced—probably won’t be able to offer an online degree. But a school like Berkeley, with its size and resources, can make a real difference in a lot of lives.
Some argue that the online version of an undergraduate degree is watered down; you miss out on the social experiences and lively after-class discussions that make college the horizon-broadening adventure it’s meant to be. In some cases that may be true, but some of us miss that stuff anyway and still get a great education. Not only that, but it’s hard to imagine that any degree offered by Berkeley could be subpar. I hope they follow through with this idea and open the doors of education to many more students.
What do you think of fully-online degree programs?
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