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Higher education is the talk of the town today. Everyone seems to be taking about the skyrocketing tuition costs and the soaring student loan default. A recent NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) report says that cumulative student debts have reached a stupendous $848 billion. This takes into account only the Perkins, Stafford Loans and Direct Loans and does not include the private loans.

Today, it takes a lot of time for students to earn a degree. The same statistics show that it takes six or more years for 56 percent of college students to graduate. President George W. Bush’s former secretary Margaret Spellings says that students waste time on non-relevant and redundant courses and spend too much time to complete college. They also waste time in losing and transferring credits.

In fact, this is not all. A worse problem is that, even after they graduate, they are not fully prepared to meet the demands of their workplace. This fact is confirmed by human resource professionals.
She says that due to lack of funding and motivation, the academy is unable to keep pace with the private sector. They are not in a position to adapt to the needs of time and change the system. She went on to say that the best innovation and change is possible only from outside where a better mouse trap can be built with advanced innovation and funding.

There is a strong need today to pursue innovative, bold solutions to help more of our citizens to attain higher education at affordable prices. Towards this goal, President Obama along with Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education has been meeting college presidents in public universities along with non-profit organization leaders.

They have been discussing ways to improve graduation rates and the fast rising cost of education. They are also brainstorming on the role of federal government in this process. Strong need for affordable higher education has spurred many online tools launched by entrepreneurs.

These tools help students manage their college experience effectively through better planning. Degree planning is done in a detailed manner by tracking student’s requirement of course each semester. Online education is fast gaining in popularity predominantly due to rising tuition costs.

These courses are well designed and ensure that students who start complete the course. Online education sites are user friendly and are loaded with features. For example, they allow students to track short and long term grade point average. This helps students understand whether they continue to be eligible for graduation, sports participation and financial aid.

These websites give users necessary tools to share customized data with advisors and parents which in turn enables them to chart out long term academic plans. College education is becoming unaffordable for families and students due to high tuition prices that far outpace inflation.

Not affected by overheads and capital expenditures, innovative pricing structure is offered by distance learning. Online courses today are offered on credit and on monthly fee basis. Online education seems to be a viable alternative that could be considered to solve the immediate problem of affordability.