For low-income students, formal online learning holds promise. They can work around their own schedule, even if they have a full-time job. Distance from a reasonably priced school isn’t an issue either, and students can save money on transportation and living expenses.
"You can find affordable programs at different universities in different disciplines," says Javier Reyes, vice provost for distance education at the University of Arkansas.
Despite these benefits, online courses that offer degrees or certificates – at least as they are currently designed and structured – can pose challenges for financially disadvantaged and academically underprepared groups, says Di Xu, a postdoctoral research associate at Columbia University’s Teachers College. As a result, experts say it’s important for low-income students to think twice before they determine whether online learning is the right path to take.
In terms of advantages, many online courses offer the ability to work according to one’s own schedule, which can enable low-income students to hold part-time or full-time jobs on top of taking classes.
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Reyes, of the University of Arkansas, says online education can also become a more affordable option than traditional education because you aren’t paying for transportation, living costs and other expenses.
"Tuition may be very similar, but the opportunity cost and the implied cost are lower for the students once they have access to online education," Reyes says.
In addition to saving money in the short term, online learning can help low-income students advance their careers and increase their earnings in the long term.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2013 indicate that the weekly income for full-time wage and salary workers who are 25 and older increases with a higher level educational degree. For instance, the median weekly earnings for somebody with a bachelor’s degree is $1,108, while the number is $651 for someone with only a high school diploma.
At the same time, online education can also have drawbacks for low-income students, experts say.
Some financially disadvantaged learners have lesser access to certain technologies that online courses require. This can "limit their interacting with the instructor and the materials, which could be a substantial obstacle," Xu says.
Xu says the self-directed nature of online courses could also make distance learning a bit more challenging for lower income students. In her research, she found that "online learning, although associated with more flexibility, also asks students to assume a higher degree of responsibility," she says. Students from disadvantaged groups usually have a "lower level of self-directed learning skills" than other students, she adds.
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"Flexibility,
the ability to keep working while taking your courses, is a huge
advantage, regardless of what your income is at that time," says Joi
Moore, associate professor of learning technologies at the University of
Missouri.
Mallory Messer, 22, of Dallas, Texas, says online
learning benefits her from a financial standpoint: She is able to
balance an education with a full-time office administration job, which
helps her to gain experience and support herself financially.
Messer
relocated to Dallas about two-and-a-half years after beginning her
education on campus at the University of Arkansas. Now, she’s able to
earn her degree from the school through its global campus program, the
school’s portal for online classes.
"When I was in a traditional
classroom setting, my hours varied when I was in class and when I
wasn’t," says Messer. "When it’s online, it’s my time and I can sit down
and do my work. I can hold a full-time job, which I couldn’t do
previously."
[Watch online students share time management tips.]
In many cases, low-income students would probably find more resources on an actual campus to support them than they would in an online environment, Reyes says.
"In a face-to-face environment we build an infrastructure around them that supports them," he says, adding that it’s important to build a similar infrastructure in online education.
