Government Constructed Courses

Joel Kirby

The U.S. Houses of Representatives recently approved a provision to use half a billion dollars to develop college courses that will be free and offered online. The plan is for publishers and U.S. colleges to develop these online courses, and for colleges to accept them as college credit. This of course raises many issues associated with the U.S. government constructing college courses and offering them free of charge, while students currently pay to take online college courses. This would of course offer free education to individuals who cannot afford a college education, but at the same time undermine American higher education. The same goal could be achieved through other state funded projects that would not undermine American higher education.

Firstly, this plan could potentially raise issues concerning academic freedom. Federal Law protects intuitions’ teachings from state influence. Although the plan entails the government having third parties construct the online courses, government influence on curriculum is nonetheless something to be conscious of in this situation. Also, how will colleges and institutions fare when students can take a class outside of an institution that is free, and get college credit? College credit is certainly not something college officials hand out. Colleges make sure courses taken at another institution are adequate to receive credit at their school, and free online classes correlating to college credit by default may be against colleges’ wishes. In addition, free online classes would definitely affect the market for traditional online classes that cost money.

There are several approaches the government could take that would increase higher education among those who cannot feasibly afford it without compromising higher education. For instance, half a billion dollars could be invested in programs to raise revenue for financial aid. Although the government could simply give financial aid institutions half a billion dollars, investing in a national lottery that raises revenue over time would be more prudent. Also, instead of funding the development of its own online courses, the government could invest the money into the already developed online-course market. By using private companies’ already developed online curriculum, any perceived state-influenced bias would not be an issue.