11 Free Tuition Colleges | One Online
Bloomberg BusinessWeek features 11 colleges that offer students free education. Some are highly specialized. Two caught my eye as opposite ends of the spectrum.
Deep Springs College is an all-male liberal arts college located in a remote desert area of Big Pine, Calif with a focus on academics, labor, and self-governance. Reading their alumni news page is a fascinating look at Cultural Creatives values. If your vision of Deep Springs College grads is newly-minted hippies doing yoga in the desert, read on.
The big story is the BusinessWeek story is progress at Israeli Shai Rashef’s University of the People, the world’s first global tuition-free online university.
Backed by the UN and top academics from Columbia University and New York University, the online university is fully operational, with 300 students, an expanding curriculum and an evolving relationship with Yale University.
Obtaining accreditation is a top priority for the school, says Shai Reshef, chairman of Cramster.com, an online study community, noting that the school is incorporated in Pasadena, Calif., making it easier for the school to work with American accreditation agencies. “We intend to apply for accreditation as soon as we can,” Reshef says. Until it’s accredited, University of the People can’t grant degrees.
Students enrolled in the current class range in age from 18 to 63; the vast majority have opted for the business program. To gain admission, students have to submit a high school diploma, have Internet access, be proficient in English, and be able to pass two mandatory courses in English and computer skills.
Students at the school come from 70 countries, including Afghanistan, Thailand, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Zambia, and expects to enroll several hundred more students when its third semester begins in February, Reshef says.
Not everyone agrees that as courses become progressively dificult after the introductory year, that an exclusively online learning experience will produce graduates will skills comparable to those on campus.
University of the People’s model relies heavily on tests. Supportive critics suggest that students may miss out on some of the more important elements of classroom instruction, such as writing essays or having exchanges with their peers mediated by a professor. Read on Tuition-Free University Gains a Following.
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