Nothing inherent to online courses makes them inferior or superior. Why legislate it?
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Commentary: Pell grant legislation

Details

  • Suzanne Smalley
  • Inside Higher Ed
  • February 11, 2022

Quotes

  • “New legislation to expand Pell Grant eligibility for students enrolled in short-term skills and job training programs has wide support in Congress, even though it excludes students attending these programs online, a provision some community college leaders and online education advocates call a mistake.”
  • Tom Brock, director of the Community College Research Center at Teachers College of Columbia University, said “online programs were likely excluded from the Pell expansion because they have historically underperformed. However, he said, online courses have become far more common since the pandemic, and community colleges have become increasingly experienced in the modality.”

π thoughts

I hope you’re not one of those people who are biased against online learning. Certainly, individual online courses and programs can be bad. But so can individual F2F courses and programs. It’s our mission here at Π (Palmetto Insights, or PI, get it? Π!) to enable the creation of brilliant online learning. Don’t let legislation get enacted that gets in the way of its success.

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