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Online learning has generated much enthusiasm for its potential to promote greater access to college by reducing the cost and time of commuting and, in the case of asynchronous approaches, by allowing students to study on a schedule that is optimal for them. The enthusiasm surrounding these and other innovative, technology-based programs has led educators to ask whether the continuing expansion of online learning could be leveraged to increase the academic access, progression, and success of low-income and under-prepared college students. However, this review of the postsecondary literature on online learning strongly suggests that online coursework, at least as currently and typically implemented, may hinder progression for low-income and under-prepared students. The paper explores why students might struggle in these courses, discusses current access barriers to online education, and offers suggestions on how public policy and institutional practice could be changed to allow online learning to better meet its potential in terms of improving both college access and student progression.

Published abstract from CCRC website. Show less

In fall 2012, a public-minded privately held firm, Quad Learning (QL), partnered with two community colleges to pilot a new program dubbed American Honors (AH), which was designed to help academically talented community college students overcome the challenges of transferring to more selective four-year destinations. By fall 2018, QL had dissolved the AH program for domestic students. This paper traces the components of the program's socially conscious theory of change and its for-profit business model, and the tensions between the two. We explore the meaning of AH's various components to students, faculty, and administrators, and we estimate its impact on students' academic outcomes and offer takeaways for future public-private ventures.

Abstract from publisher's website. Show less

With the advent of massive open online courses (or MOOCs), it is theoretically possible for anyone with an Internet connection to access course materials from elite universities - a possibility that some commentators have hailed as a ‘democratization’ of education. Of course, MOOCs are very new, and it is not yet clear how they will affect postsecondary access or attainment, particularly among traditionally underserved populations. To provide some perspective on how MOOCs and other online delivery methods might affect educational equity, in this article [the author] examines recent research on online college coursework (that is, courses in which most or all of the learning experience takes place online) and discuss potential implications for postsecondary access and learning.

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