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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

We guess someone has decided that the price is right

We noted in an earlier post that:

...USC’s president, C.L. Max Nikias...takes [a]  contrarian view of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, a free education movement that is taking root at many prominent colleges and universities. USC doesn’t do MOOCs. It offers plenty of online education, especially at the graduate level, but for a price. “That’s our business model,” he said. Nikias said giving away what the university provides would be counterproductive. “We’re the ones who admit students, and we’re the ones who are going to issue degrees,” he said. “At the end of the day, I feel that without our academic brand, we’re nothing. Literally nothing.”...

See http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2015/02/no-moocs-at-usc.html

So what do we make of a new online MBA program at USC reported in Inside Higher Ed? Since they're not going to give away the courses, apparently they must figure that the price is right:

The University of Southern California's new online M.B.A. program is the latest entry in a renaissance for such degree offerings, a development program directors say has been made possible by advances in technology that connect students and professors online. The USC Marshall School of Business will launch its program this fall, marking the first time the university has offered the degree at a distance. Students in the 21-month program, which is split into five semesters, will tackle one course of three to four topics at a time, covering much of the required readings and assignments at their own pace but checking in with classmates and professors during weekly live online sessions. Unlike programs at other universities, which include regular campus visits, USC’s online students will only come to campus once...


If the price is right, it sounds like fun!

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