The world of higher education is rapidly changing. Fewer and fewer students want the costly four-year degree with credits earned in classrooms. Many prefer courses online where the emphasis is on skill acquisition. Creating such courses calls for a new kind of expertise, and those who can supply it are called Online Program Managers (OPM).

Predictably, however, government regulation is getting in the way of colleges making the best use of OPMs, as Jenna Robinson points out in today’s Martin Center article.

She writes:

While OPMs have traditionally been associated with graduate programs, they are becoming increasingly relevant to undergraduate education. Universities are now turning to OPMs to help develop online courses for specific undergraduate populations, including working adults, rural students, and students seeking cost-effective alternatives to traditional four-year degrees. OPMs are fast, turn-key operations that many institutions lack the expertise or funding to develop independently.

What is the problem? Robinson delineates three: regulations by the federal Department of Education, by state higher education authorities, and by accrediting agencies. “By restricting revenue-sharing models, imposing costly compliance requirements, and creating accreditation roadblocks, regulators are inadvertently limiting the availability of affordable and flexible online undergraduate programs,” she continues.

American education needs to change. The sooner we clear away governmental obstacles, the better.