OnLine Universities are a Scam

Here is a simple formula: Education = knowledge and skills = Employment = Income

So, get the best education you can. Your life starts there. For college, get into the best university you can. There are hundreds of wonderful and affordable choices. But do not choose an online college or university. Those programs are a scam! What kind of an education will you get for free or $100 per class?

I am a retired corporate executive (37 years) and current university professor. I have hired 100’s of college graduates in the US, UK, Japan, China and South America. And I have managed teams of salaried professionals. The vast number of these people became highly successful and well paid. None graduated from online universities.

For about 2 years I have studied the various programs offered by online colleges and universities, especially the business schools. Here are my observations:

• The course curriculums are “fluff” without hard skills or technology. As an example, “Business Ethics” is offered by many. Sure, this is important, but not deserving of a whole semester class. Another listing I see is “Marketing Communications Strategy.” I am not sure what is presented for an entire semester. Perhaps deserving of a few lectures at best. Another course I frequently see is “Leadership!” Again, what is taught for 13 weeks? Perhaps good examples of leadership. OK, that might be interesting and helpful, but for a whole semester?
• Curriculums for business schools must include 2 years of accounting, 1 year of economics, 1.5 years of finance, some statistics/analytics, operations and supply chain management, 1 year of law, marketing, strategic planning in business, money and banking, risk management, and case studies in business. No fluff.
• Person to person classes- Zoom instruction is not effective. Every professor I know hates the online instruction process. Compared to face-to-face learning, the average grade per class declines by 10-15 points. Ugh! Student learning is much lower. There is no real discussion or student engagement. Frankly, the classes are boring.
• The faculty at most of the online schools have thin credentials. Most do not have advanced degrees and/or years of experience. This is very important. College professors must be able to explain complicated concepts in multiple ways and provide excellent real-life examples. Examples are critical to student learning! At online colleges, the student is often reading class materials and writing papers.
• The Honor Code is very hard to enforce during online classes. Students take exams while at home. Ugh! Their notes are available, same with textbooks (if any?). Students do not study as hard when they know their notes are available. Lack of studying leads to lack of retention! Ugh!
• Online colleges and universities lack accreditation, mostly for the reasons above. Online colleges often rank themselves against other online collages. I am unaware of any online college or university ranked in the top 500 of colleges in any category.

Online colleges and universities are not worth pursuing. Period.

FOOTNOTE: The above commentary does not apply to face-to-face colleges/universities that offer some classes online. Nor does it apply to colleges that were forced to go online due to Covid. These colleges and universities are trying to get back to in person learning!