This week the Chronicle of Higher Education ran two very interesting news items. The first deals with the inequities of institutional endowments and student funding. The top private universities in the United States have an inordinate amount of cash and because of that, are able to offer funding or discounts to their tuition. Read the article here.

It's interesting because the article serves to illustrate inequity in education. Some universities are reputable, being recognized for their alumnus, research accomplishments, ability to attract exceptional students, and the quality of the instruction. Consider this for a moment --

The United States now ranks 5th among nations in getting students to begin acollege education; 35% of people in the United States start college. The U.S. ranks 16th in getting people to complete a college degree; only 17% finish their degree.
(http://wunc.org/programs/voices/considering-college/facts-about-access-t...)

It's difficult to finish a degree. Attending school requires a serious amount of cash -- and time -- to complete. At the same time, the value of completing a bachelor's degree is indisputable. For example;

In 1980, a male with a BA or higher earned 19% more than a male with just a high school degree. Now a male with a BA earns 67% more. This difference in earnings is attributed in large part to the fact that earnings for those without college degrees has been going down since 1980 more quickly than earnings for those with a degree is going up. Earnings of those with less than a high school diploma decreased $5,200 from 1980-2004, while the earnings of those with a bachelor's or higher degree increased $2,700.

It literally pays to earn a college degree -- and it pays better (more) to have a degree from certain institutions, like a Harvard or Stanford. The question I am raising in this blog is whether online universities or online degrees offered by traditional-residential universities through online coursework are seen as being "equal" to a degree earned while attending classes on a campus. While offering greater access to an education, online degree programs have a serious drawback in the pervasive perception that the coursework is inferior. Online courses are hard, they take a lot of work .... but they are perceived as an incomplete education, as though something went missing in the educational process.

Here are the results from a paper published in January that show the importance of certain factors and employer perception of online degrees. The factors that influence perception the most are at the top of the scale, and at the bottom are the factors that influence perception least.

• 100 Face to face classroom interaction with students, faculty and experts
• 97 Program reputation for a rigorous curriculum
• 94 Mentored research, teaching. clinical or field experiences
• 37 Opportunity to work with new technologies
• 34 Social experiences associated with residential programs
• 0 Access to a wide variety of online courses

There is a very real danger that we are creating a new kind of social inequality. People who earn their degree online are not necessarily making their life better -- the quality of the education, the social experiences, and the mentored field work are of higher quality in traditional-residential classes. With a traditional-residential degree it's more likely you will be hired before anybody with an online degree. I suppose the same could be said for a student with a degree from Harvard as opposed to The University of Massachusetts (fine school that it is) -- Harvard is seen as having something "more." Perhaps face-to-face lectures and in-class experience will become the new cornerstone of a quality education, reserved for only those of sufficient means or influence.