SDLJ said:
Online classes are a big draw for some students. The issue there: they aren't as rigorous. I think it is unwise to sacrifice academic rigor for more students. GCU is a bit of a laughing stock because it is (or soon to be was) for profit online school. Also, they have church in the building before their games which increases their attendance. Plus they market their ass off. I bet entrance is free. I don't pay to go to church.
Liberty U? Is a terrible school.
Purdue- Purdue is Purdue. They bought them for $1 because the online degrees were not worth the paper they are printed on.
I missed the online school era at SFA. However, I have seen tons of students pay others to take their on-line classes. Also, I took a class in law school that was more of a video conference online with a similar platform to online undergrad (you have to take the test at school); I did well in the class but I learned less than I would have in a classroom. Also could be preference. After-all, depends on who you ask. Enough with the tangent.
SFA has a marketing problem. There is literally nothing better to do in Nac than go to SFA basketball games (or football). The coliseum should be maxed out almost every home game. I don't remember the cost of tickets. Is it expensive? My wife played softball (lifetime free baby). Make the tickets cheaper? Any marketing person knows they spend money inside the building.
We have to get the community engaged.
I disagree that online classes are not as rigorous. If the same PhD is teaching the same online class under the same syllabus as he/she teaches to the on-campus students, its hard to see how it isn't as rigorous. Will some online students cheat? Absolutely. Do some on-campus students cheat? Absolutely (do the frat and sorority houses still have their libraries of previous mid-term and final exams?) . Do most students online or on-campus cheat? No, but it is easier to do it online.
Like most people you do not know the history of GCU. Suffice to say it is older than most people know and has spent 3 1/2 times more years as a non-profit than it has as a for profit. I agree though that there are things they do during this stint as a for profit that bother me. Those things don't bother me as much as decades of corruption, bribery, pedophilia, and rape covered up in the name of athletics by "esteemed" non-profit universities but they bother me.
Church!!?? lol I was not aware that GCU had church services before every basketball game. Nor was I aware that church had become such a draw for college students. Most of my college friends spent Sunday morning recovering from Saturday night. If all SFA has to do to sell out every game with costume clad crazed students (Disney night was incredible) is hold a non-denominational church service before the game, SFA administration should get in touch with the on campus religious organizations and make that happen next year.
I have no idea how good or bad the academics are at Liberty nor do I care. You are right, those Kaplan degrees probably aren't worth much but that's not relevant. What is relevant is that Purdue now has 30,000 more tuition paying students and the online infrastructure to grow that number.
None of the above is relevant to my response to CLHawkins about spending more money on buildings and parking garages to increase enrollment. The fact is SFA does not have to do that. Students entering college for the first time were born in 2000 and 2001. They have grown up with a cell phone in their hands and they live their lives on social media. Online classes do not carry a stigma with them. Almost every university in the country offers online classes because their customers demand it. SFA already has online classes. A student can already get a degree from SFA online. My point is that a good way to boost net income for SFA is for them to increase their online offerings and market them. The branding and the messaging will need to be done carefully so as not to cheapen the SFA brand but it can be done.