Making the Grade

E-learning meets the challenge of traditional schools.

Knowledge, technical know-how or information of any kind, is one of the world's driving forces. It always has been, but in 2005, its influence is global.

Since the 1990s knowledge has blossomed as an internet-based consumer market economy. Individuals, companies, and various institutions tapped into the bubble, as e-learning became the educational buzz word.

The traditional colleges and universities around the world were fairly ambivalent. The boom was about novelty; the bubble would burst eventually. Consumers would come to their senses. People would realize that on-line education and on-line accreditation were oxymoron's of sorts.

Almost ten years later the bubble has burst and the market has settled down; the demand for on-line accreditation is still high, though, and neither traditional institutions, nor the government, for that matter, are benefiting. Most of these haven't got a piece of it; something has to be done. In 2001 there were at least 971 degree-granting virtual institutions in the United States.

Let's face it, there are always scams, but the perpetrators don't survive in the woodwork for long. The consumer boom of e-learning has ended, and wiped out most, if not all, of the "diploma mills" that emerged in the bubble.

Anyway, when there's money involved, people aren't long fooled.

Studying for a four year degree can cost as much as $100,000. Student loans help, scholarships help; but with the enrollment numbers more than doubled in recent decades, the traditional universities are stretching themselves as it is. Then, not every one wants to be traditional; and when there are so many opportunities, it doesn't always pay to follow the path of the righteous.

On-line universities recognize the importance of individuals who veered away from the standard experience of higher education and opted for work experience. But a life-experience degree is no cop-out. Life Experience Degree offering schools minimum requirements for a B.A., are rigorous: least five years experience in a field directly related to major, or else experience and some college credits totaling five years.

The government's interest in destroying the credibility of on-line schools is obvious and something to watch out for. Government agencies don't like the global market potential of e-learning because they can't tap into it. They start jumping up and down, waving seals of officialdom. On-line schools aren't accredited.

E-learning is not lowering the standards, it is setting new criteria: exactly what it says on the tin, the criteria is life experience

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