On January 10th, Governor Jerry Brown released his proposal to balance the state budget, and among many other cuts, higher education will receive its’ very own painful cut. Loss of more jobs, reduced class offerings, and most importantly, higher tuition costs may well be the consequences if the proposed $1.4 billion in higher education cuts are implemented in California’s already strained higher education system. One proposal discussed by the Assembly Committee on Higher Education to save California’s higher education system is to look at online education.
University of the People encourages California to prioritize online education delivery and recognize this model as a viable means to deliver quality university education to the high numbers of students looking to better their futures with education. A meta-analysis done by the U.S. Department of Education found that students who had all or part of their educational courses delivered online were found to perform better, on average, than those taking the same courses in a physical classroom environment.
Governments around the world, whether in developing or developed countries, can benefit greatly by more aggressively incorporating online education models that allow for low cost or ideally, tuition-free higher education. University of the People was created to provide tuition-free education for populations around the globe and strives to be the model in online education that governments across the world emulate.
We are sad to hear of the proposed $1.4 billion of cuts to higher education in California and hope for a swift adoption of an online learning emphasis throughout the UC, California State, and California Community College systems in order that students can continue to receive affordable and excellent state-supported higher education. We welcome Jerry Brown and his staff’s inquiries into utilizing our model of education, as well as welcome California students seeking tuition-free online higher education.
What UOPEOPLE has begun in the realms of education should be encouraged at all levels of human interpretation. The government should encourage UOPEOPLE, employers should encourage UOPEOPLE, everybody should encourage UOPEOPLE! All fingers are not equal, they say. Not very many can really afford the high tuition university education nawadays. Education should be dynamic, those who can afford the high tuition fees, should go for it, but those who cannot afford it should use the opportunity UOPEOPLE has presented, and get the good education that they offer. Education should not be a function of how much you paid to obtain it, but how much you have acquired.