Private companies working with nonprofit universities can actually help reduce tuition costs? Although it doesn't set tuition prices, 2U incentivizes universities to lower their rates.
Modern approaches to education require innovation by public-private partnerships, which allow more students to learn without having to leave their communities or quit their job to attend a physical campus. Many educators are concerned about new proposed regulations that would limit students access to high quality, online education.
Myths vs. Facts: Setting the Record Straight About Online Education →
The Department of Education announced a March 2023 review of regulations governing partnerships between universities and ed-tech companies, including 2U. While it is important to lower the cost of education and debt for students, these bureaucratic regulations are not the solution.
“Online education has the potential to meet the needs of many students and lower costs but we are concerned about the growth in loan debt and want to ensure students get value for their money.”
The benefits of online education are not potential or theoretical; online programs supported by partners like 2U and others deliver strong retention, graduation rates, and outcomes. Key findings from Gallup include:
of alumni of online graduate-degree programs supported by 2U had achieved positive career outcomes.
would pursue an online graduate degree if they had to do it over again.
strongly agree they had at least one professor at their graduate institution who excited them about learning, compared with 67% of recent post-secondary graduates nationally.
graduated within two years, compared with 56% of recent national graduate alumni.
would pursue an online graduate degree if they had to do it over again.
The implication that increasing access to online education is responsible for the growth in student loan debt is unfounded. The rise of student loan debt has increased more than sevenfold between 1995 and 2017. The Congressional Budget Office reported, “That growth was the result of an increase in the number of borrowers, an increase in the average amount they borrowed, and a decrease in the rate at which they repaid outstanding loans.”
The reasons why the cost of higher education and student loan debt are rising are numerous and long pre-date the rise of online education. Inflation, reduced State funding, more access to federal government-backed loans, increased financial aid, unchecked investment in campus facilities and amenities – all of these factors matter and contribute to the rise of student loan debt.
According to financial markets expert Morgan Housel, “9/11 prompted the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, which helped drive the housing bubble, which led to the financial crisis, which led to a poor jobs market, which led tens of millions to seek a college education, which led to 1.6 trillion in student loans with a 10.8% default rate.”
https://www.elearnmarkets.com/school/units/the-psychology-of-money/surprise
There are many reasons and historical events that have created the student debt problem. It wasn’t caused by online education and unnecessarily regulating online education will not solve the problem.
Americans want innovation and more access for students, not less, so limiting universities’ ability to provide first-class online education is not the answer.
Private companies working with nonprofit universities can actually help reduce tuition costs? Although it doesn't set tuition prices, 2U incentivizes universities to lower their rates.
Online programs backed by leading ed-tech companies like 2U, Coursera, Wiley and others achieve strong retention, graduation rates, and student outcomes. 97% of surveyed alumni from 2U online graduate degree programs reported positive career outcomes and 92% would pursue an online graduate degree if they had to do it over again. Here’s why:
I would sit on the bed with my daughter in the room, because I didn’t have an office, and instead of making me feel uncomfortable or excluded, my professors were totally cool with it. They didn't care where you were as long as you were in the moment, present.”
Online Master of Health Administration Program Graduate, George Washington University
I'd always dreamed of going to law school so when I learned about the online MLS program at Washington University, I thought, ‘Here's a really great opportunity.’ In class, I wasn't just a handicapped guy or a disabled guy. I was a student. I was a contributing student—and there was never a time where anyone in the program told me that I couldn’t do this.”
Online Master of Legal Studies Program Graduate, Washington University of St. Louis
I was in class with such a range of people—some who had been in business for 10 or 15 years, some who were CEOs. The amount I learned just talking to them and receiving their feedback was incredible. It opened up a new world for me.”
Online Master of Business Administration, University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School
Quality online education makes higher education more attainable and work-force development more efficient, effective, and inclusive.
Public-private partnerships in higher education are imperative for increasing access to high-quality online education, which supports the talent pipeline for nurses, teachers, data scientists, mental health counselors, and other professionals our society needs.
More regulations that would disrupt proven and effective partnerships that empower millions of students to pursue their academic goals and realize their full potential.
The Department of Education is looking at the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter that permits revenue sharing between companies like 2U and universities. The fact is that revenue-sharing creates a strong incentive to drive the best student outcomes possible. Students pay as they go, which means that universities and edtech partners only succeed if students progress through a program and graduate. There is simply no incentive to recruit students who are unlikely to enjoy and succeed in the program.
Activist interest groups and think tank bureacrats have made no secret of their goals to eliminate private sector innovation in education.
The private sector has an important role to play in driving innovation, access, and affordability in higher education. The Department of Education should recognize this fact and uphold the policies that make public-private partnerships in higher education possible.
2U Inc.
The company behind global online learning platform edX, today announced the publication of its 2022 Transparency & Outcomes Report: an annual summary of the impact 2U is making on learners, universities, companies, and institutions around the world.
Chip Paucek
As the world undergoes massive technological innovation, the traditional approach of relying solely on government-run institutions is no longer sufficient. We must not only allow — but insist — that our leading technology companies deliver innovation to education.
Chip Paucek
Public-private partnerships in higher education have created some of the highest quality online programs available today, including many top-ranked by U.S. News & World Report
Michael Horn
In a show of regulatory overreach, the Biden administration’s Department of Education issued guidance last week to expand its tentacles into the internal affairs of colleges and the contracts they sign with outside organizations.
2U, Inc.
At our 2023 Investor Day event at Nasdaq’s NYC headquarters, several of our passionate leaders shared key insights into how we make our mission come alive for our partners and learners every day.
Andrew Hermalyn, 2U, Inc.
Revenue-sharing partnerships give universities an important tool to better serve students. Over the last 15 years, 2U and our university partners have given millions of learners the opportunity to pursue an education through online programs, from free courses to full degrees, without uprooting their lives.