COVID and Higher Education in US – Students are 25% more likely to go to a school that has a strong online program

Students are 25% more likely to go to a school that has a strong online program nowthan they were just 90 days ago, but colleges aren’t prepared.

[L]ike every other institution, the college system is organized to protect the institution and not serve its primary constituents. Education was never designed for the student: It was too expensive; it was too complicated; it was too long. Teachers didn’t have to teach many hours. You aren’t even guaranteed to get into your classes. On top of that, costs have never lowered because the government will give you a loan to go to school no matter how much the cost. So they ended up creating this situation that had to collapse. Everything is about extracting money from the student, and nothing is about preparing the student for the world outside of education.

You said you’ve been having conversations with state education systems that are unsure of what to do right now. What specific fears are they expressing?

Look, even non-profit schools are businesses, and they have a motivation to generate more revenue than their costs. How could Stanford have a $27 billion endowment and cut the salaries of professors? That’s just crazy. What is that money for if not for getting through times like this?
The thing is that these schools recognize that students are often ill-prepared for their college education. Schools have been allowing people in because they want the revenue, whether or not that student is prepared. You’re seeing now certain states getting rid of the ACT and SAT [requirements] during this crisis—that’s just an excuse to let more people in without a barrier because they want the revenue.

About 43% of students don’t graduate. Let me just do the economics and math for you: If a student comes to a school, fills a seat, and then next year doesn’t fill that seat, that’s lost revenue. That’s one of the reasons the cost of education keeps going up. [Chegg] is able to help schools keep retention higher and graduation rates higher because students are able to consume their education at whatever time they want with live help. We teach them better because they can depend on us, because we’re exceptionally affordable, and really comprehensive.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @ Coronavirus pandemic will change higher education, online learning for good, CEO of Chegg believes | Fortune