Arkansas Looks To Elearning To Get More To Complete Their Degrees

Arkansas ranks next to last among U.S. states in the number of college graduates (only West Virginia lags behind it). The numbers are a bit shocking: Right now, just 12 out of every 100 ninth graders in the state earn a bachelor’s degree within six years of finishing high school.

A big problem is that many students in the state start college but never finish. Arkansas Higher Education Director Jim Purcell wants to respond with a $30 million dollar education program that has a strong online learning focus. By offering distance learning courses to people who’ve failed to complete their college degrees, he hopes to boost the number of graduates and make the state more attractive to employers.

It’s interesting that online learning is being called to the rescue here, since a common criticism of it is that students often take an online course or two but never finish a degree. Check out this interesting article about the tough conditions in Arkansas higher education, and how the state hopes to fix them, partly through online learning.