Faraway thoughts: distance learning. (correspondence courses and other remote educational opportunities)

Economist (US), The, January, 1995

Many colleges in the US, UK and other countries are expanding the number of remote learning courses offered. New technologies such as satellites and compact discs make the courses more accessible and interesting. The increase is driven by a desire to cut costs, while increasing the number of students.

AS THE cost of a conventional university education soars, university presidents in the United States bemoan the difficulty of getting students: the number of 18-22-year-olds enrolled on full- time courses has fallen by one-third since 1979. In Britain, vice- chancellors struggle to accommodate increasing student numbers, but with near-stagnant budgets. In Eastern Europe and South-East Asia, governments are keen to expand the numbers in higher education without a...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.