Educating Working Adults: Walden University President Jonathan Kaplan (Part 4)

SM: You said that your students are working adults. Do they take your programs out of convenience?

JK: While there is a level of flexibility and convenience in distance learning, it is also hard. It is challenging to sit down for school after a full day of work. Students spend dinner with their families, put the kids to bed, and then start working for school. It takes the ability to be a self-starter. Online is not easy. It is a great mechanism for professionals to pursue education because commuting to a school 30 minutes away or taking day classes can be a non-starter. The types of personalities who take these classes are very motivated and are self-starters. They are often very successful at work. We have found that it is a very natural modality for working professionals.

SM: It sounds as though you are saying that students self-select into this type of program.

JK: Yes. I think that is fair to say. There is an increasingly greater variety of profiles of working adults for whom distance learning makes a lot of sense. If you take a typical Walden student, who may be a 40-year-old teacher who works in a public elementary school, it is likely that she has two kids but wants to get a master’s or an EED. Through her own selection process, this is the best option for her.

SM: Let’s talk a bit about the pricing. What does this cost for someone to complete a degree in your program, and how long does it take to complete?

JK: That is complex to answer because of the varied levels of our degrees. Our programs range from 18 months to five to seven years for certain PhD programs. As a result of that variation in time to complete, the total tuition for programs varies as well. I would say that typically for Walden, we are quite competitive with private universities on overall tuition. We are a bit more expensive than a state school. It can vary from $12,000 to $60,000 for some doctoral programs. Federal financial aid is a crucial factor for many students making their education choice.

The actual cost per credit hour varies by degree and program. We really look at the particular careers and professions working adults are in. Our teacher education program at the masters level is less expensive than our MBA program. That may not be the case at a typical state institution. Our fees do vary by degree program.

SM: If a profession has a certain earning potential, then you adjust your tuition so that it is not overly burdensome for students based on profession?

JK: Yes. We look at affordability, which I think more higher education institutions should be doing.

SM: What is the stance of the federal government financial aid programs towards your university and online education?

JK: The U.S. Department of Education enables all regionally accredited universities regardless of their teaching delivery mechanism to gain access to Title 4 federal financial aid. The most important factor is regional accreditation. We are regionally accredited. That is the threshold we have to meet.

The past several years have been very positive in this topic. We have been able to get past discussions about modalities. Online versus campus has become less of an issue. The key issues are regional accreditation and meeting other requirements the U.S. Department of Education has.

This segment is part 4 in the series : Educating Working Adults: Walden University President Jonathan Kaplan
1 2 3 4 5 6 7