The price of tuition, whether virtual or in class, is the same across the board
Think you can take classes online to save money? Think again.
Online classes at Ohio University cost the same as regular “brick and mortar” classes for students who attend the Athens campus.
This medium of education is available to Athens campus students through a program called Athens Online, which has the same tuition as traditional classes, in part to avoid confusion for students, said Deb Gearhart, vice provost for eLearning and Strategic Partnerships.
Yet other online courses — like those for eLearning students taking all their coursework online — cost less than half of what Athens online classes do.
Seamlessness for billing is one of the reasons that these online courses are just as expensive as classes taken at the university’s facilities, Gearhart said.
“Comprehensive tuition at Ohio, and most other institutions, cover the courses on the campus no matter how delivered,” she explained. “It’s not the delivery method you are paying for, but the credit.”
This semester, OU has 109 online courses available for the Athens campus, according to the university registrar’s website. The current undergraduate tuition rate per credit hour is $499 for in-state students and $941 for out-of-state students, and this includes online classes.
Gearhart said that another reason online tuition is the same as regular classes is to avoid confusion for students.
“When a student gets their billing and they see prices from this campus and this campus, it’s confusing,” she added. “With the new (OHIO) guarantee tuition program … that helps keep it all online so it can be very seamless for students.”
Gearhart said that the advantage of Athens Online classes is that they offer certain students convenience and allow classes with surplus students to meet capacity.
The university offered 294 Athens Online classes this past summer, according to the university registrar’s website. Despite the fact that more students take online classes during the summer, Gearhart said that scholarships and financial aid do not apply for most students during that semester.
“Your aid goes across your academic year,” Gearhart said. “So if you have fall and spring, and you want summer, you won’t have aid in the summer. You have to plan ahead of time if you want summer.”
The university does provide an eLearning program with online classes at a less expensive cost, Gearhart said. This is only for students who take all of their classes online, like nurses working toward a bachelor’s degree. These eLearning courses cost $240 per semester for in-state students, she added.
Less expensive online classes are available to regional campus students as well, Gearhart said. Regional students can also take any online class from another regional campus at the given campus tuition price, she said.
However, if they wish to take an online course offered via the Athens’ campus, they have to pay the higher Athens campus tuition rate, she added.
Tiffany Lemasters, a freshman studying pre-pharmacy, said she currently takes an economics class through Athens Online and doesn’t agree with the pricing of most online classes.
“Online classes shouldn't cost the same as a lecture class,” Lemasters said. “I honestly hate the thought of online courses, it was just my only option. However, if it is a class that I can use in everyday life, I would be slightly more willing to pay the same.”
Urban Cafaro, a sophomore studying music production, said he believes online classes shouldn’t cost the same as regular classes.
“I think they should be cheaper,” Cafaro explained. “Because when you’re in class, you’re using the school’s utilities.”
However, Hanna Cimperman, a junior studying media and social change, said that she doesn’t think online classes should have a lower tuition rate.
“Technically, you’re paying for credit and you get the same amount of credit from online classes,” she said.
@alxmeyer
am095013@ohio.edu
