Arizona State Makes College More Attainable

Last week, Arizona State

its plans to make the courses for an entire freshman year of college available online for students to access from anywhere in the world. While the prospect of online degree courses is nothing new, Arizona State is setting an important precedent for US schools— the entire program will be free of charge.

The US university will be working together with edX, a non-profit online learning platform that was created by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to provide higher level learning to anyone who wants it. The courses will be available to be taken for college credit, which the students can then use toward a degree at Arizona State or any other University that accepts the transfer credits.

The program is expected to significantly improve the college experience for many different groups as it will allow students to build confidence before spending a great deal on college. Around 40 percent of those who start at a US college are unable to earn a degree within six years, but the online program is expected to help decrease those figures. Students can take the Arizona State courses online free of charge, and pay $200 per credit once the course is passed in order to redeem university credit. If a student fails the course or decides against using their credits, they won't be charged. By taking and passing an entire year's worth of classes, students can compete their freshman year of college for just $5,160, compared to out-of-state students living on campus who often pay nearly $40,000 per year.

The online program is expected to draw in a wide variety of students who, for some reason or another, don't want to shell out the cash for a year of tuition. The university said it is expecting foreign students who want to study in the US to sign up as well as those who dropped out of school or decided not to continue their education past the high school level. The program will also be useful for high school students who want to determine whether or not they are ready to go on to college.