Ryan Nelson: ASU, Starbucks agreement could boost UC online education
By Ryan Nelson
June 24, 2014 3:39 p.m.
Depending on who you ask, online education has the opportunity to either revolutionize the way we approach schooling, or really do nothing more than waste a ton of money.
If you ask Gov. Jerry Brown, it’s a revelation. During his tenure at the helm of the Golden State, Brown has pushed the University of California to cut costs by shifting some of its academic resources to more financially efficient online options.
The fight over online education draws lines in the sand and asks questions about the very core of our educational values: Is human interaction necessary? Can you learn just as much through a computer screen as through face-to-face interaction?
However, a landmark agreement between Arizona State University and Starbucks may give the governor an unexpected bullet in his chamber. The coffee giant has agreed to finance its employees’ online education through ASU, so long as they work 20 hours a week, are juniors or seniors and prove themselves academically capable. For freshmen and sophomores, the students pay a discounted tuition.
The program isn’t necessarily just open to ASU students, either. Students at community colleges could get an ASU degree through the agreement by finishing their degrees online instead of transferring to the usual brick-and-mortar school.
It’s an encouraging development that illustrates online education’s accessibility. And any expansion of online education that demonstrates its practicality and reach should serve the governor well in his push for online education at UC schools.
After all, the primary reason for the existence of public universities is to promote the well-being of the general populace. It’s the reason we pay taxes to the university. Smarter people means better societies.
Online education allows for an expansion of the university system without forcing students to choose between attending class and making money. The reduced opportunity cost is a win all around.
Expanding educational opportunities to the greatest number of people fits with the overall purpose of public universities. It would also fill a need, given that California’s labor force is expected to face a deficit of nearly 1 million college educated workers by 2025.
But we’re still not at the point where Brown can just point a finger at the nearest UC IT guy and say “do this.” ASU has an established online brand, with 40 majors offered. That cybernetic infrastructure just doesn’t exist on a wide enough scale yet at the UC.
Furthermore, for every moderately reputable online educational resource like ASU, you could just as easily get a disaster like San Jose State University. They attempted a pilot program with private education company Udacity, and offered to share online courses with nearby high schools. Those that took online classes failed nearly across the board.
In fact, some of the people enrolled in the classes didn’t even have access to a computer.
So no, this partnership between ASU and Starbucks probably won’t radically redefine the way education works. As with everything else, there’s no blanket answer to any of this. Individuals learn in different ways; some will get more out of online classes than others.
Still, the initial enthusiasm behind the agreement is no small thing – it shows substantial support for online learning from those who are working hard to get an education. In an age where no one seems to have answers for the students who are being squeezed tighter financially, a little bit of pragmatism could go a long way.
Ultimately, Brown should like what he sees. The agreement is evidence that there is a significant number of people – including the very intelligent people that run one of the world’s most recognizable companies – that see merit in online education.
Is it possible to forecast what an expansion of this type of learning could do for the UC? Probably not very accurately. But the next time Brown orders coffee, he may want to leave the barista a bigger tip.
