An Argument for Online Education
Tom Moore, CEO of Education Corporation of America, a company that owns and operates online schools throughout the United States, recently defended the online, for-profit education sector from its U.S.D.E dissidents. Moore's company operates the network of Virginia College career schools and he thinks that the U.S.D.E. and other critics are wrong in their recent assertions of online and career school inadequacy.
Moore argues that a critical path to equal opportunity in a society which continues to righteously divide the "have" and "have nots" is education. Education, he says, is something that everyone should have the opportunity to pursue, not just the lucky few. Traditional schools i.e. nonprofit private and public universities are not the only option. And, for many, these "traditional" colleges may not have ever been an option in the first place.
Moore calls career colleges and online education institutions a vital part of the education community and one which is reaching out to students who want to earn a degree, but may not have the time or means to attend a ground school.
Further, says Moore, as some states continue to cut education budgets ultimately reducing access to higher education, online institutions and community colleges have become even more of a critically important factor in the education sector.
Online institutions and community colleges offer students flexible alternatives to the oftentimes inaccessible and grossly over expensive "traditional" school.
Online educators and career or community colleges straightforwardly prepare the new American workforce, as Moore calls it, readying students for direct entry into the job market and workforce.The U.S. Department of Education and some politicians have valid concerns. Recently, for-profit education institutions have come under attack for faulty recruiting processes among other things. Because of this the Department of Education has decided to place some regulations on the for-profit education sector; regulations that may affect deserving students. Says Moore, "the Department of Education and certain politicians have chosen to ignore the opportunities and benefits that career colleges provide to students and to the economy. Instead, the department is planning to make things harder for these students, by proposing a set of regulations that are based on faulty data and even faultier premises."
Faulty recruiting processes are certainly an unfavorable error on the part of for-profit's administrators, but, argues Moore, the U.S.D.E. will ultimately be doing a disservice to the students who want an education, not the administrators. "The effect will be to limit access to, and discriminate against, first-generation college students and non-traditional students – such as working mothers, minorities, veterans and seniors, those who arguably could benefit most from a college education."
Moore's argument for for-profit online education institutions and career and community colleges is a valid one. For-profits are some of the industry's top producers of career-based and tech-ready graduates. And, in many ways, for-profits are at the very forefront of innovative, higher education- employing digital technology and various other pioneering teaching tactics to help students learn.
In closing, Moore petitions the U.S.D.E. and political critics to reevaluate how placing strict regulations on the for-profit education industry will ultimately affect non-traditional, deserving students. In a society of great separateness, education should be an equally available, joining factor.