eduKan Keeps Tuition Affordable

GREAT BEND, Kan. - July 29, 2014 - PRLog -- eduKan, the award-winning technology platform and consortium for six colleges in Kansas, is pleased to announce they will not be raising tuition and fees for students in the coming 2014-2015 school year, unlike what other state institutions are doing to in-state undergraduate students with hikes up to 5.7%.

Tuition hikes are a nation-wide problem with the Department of Labor reporting that the price index for college tuition and textbooks grew to 80% from August 2003 to August 2013, twice as fast for any other area including medical care.

Traditionally, institutions raise tuition to compensate for lack of funding and rising costs and in many cases they are cutting faculty, eliminating courses, closing campuses, and reducing services to students, not innovating their educational delivery system.

“Accessibility, affordability, and flexibility are requirements for today’s digital students and eduKan has been offering the best in technology delivery with our innovative programs. said Mark Sarver, CEO, eduKan. “We have a line item in our budget for innovation and look for ways to improve distance education delivery to ensure a successful student experience and to continue to keep our classes affordable.”

eduKan has implemented many innovations in the in the past few years to help students (and parents) keep the cost of tuition down while opening the door to English Language Learners by providing more access and flexibility:

1.     No tuition hike for 2014-2015 school year

2.     Embedded books and media, reducing costs to students by eliminating or reducing the need for textbook purchases

3.     Online access to courses offered through eduKan utilizing digital learning materials that are accessed through the Internet from PCs, laptops or tablet mobile devices giving the student flexibility on when and where they complete their coursework

4.     Elimination of on-campus, in person, proctoring by using biometric technology for identifying students and reducing proctor fees by an average of $200 a semester

5.     Creation of an Associates degree program for ELL students which enable them to learn English while pursuing their education without additional fees or emersion courses

6.     Strategic partnership with Lyons USD405, Pratt Community College and CompuHigh named Diploma to Degree, the first of its kind program in the United States offering concurrent courses along with dual credits delivered virtually via the Internet enabling adults to earn their high school diploma and college credits at no cost

7.     Use of “big data” to track how engaged students are with their digital learning materials enabling eduKan to review the student faculty interaction, locate any weakness and proactively assess each course’s success to ensure quality programs for distance education students

For more information about eduKan, please visit their website at http://www.eduKan.org.

About eduKan

eduKan provides access to quality higher education, including ELL courses, via college degrees, certificates, and individual courses, with affordable online classes. eduKan was founded in 1998 as a cooperative effort between member colleges to offer courses via the Internet. eduKan’s consortium schools are all accredited Kansas learning institutions with excellent reputations and long histories of providing degrees in traditional settings, as well as through online courses. eduKan Consortium member institutions are: Barton Community College, in Great Bend; Colby Community College, in Colby; Dodge City Community College, in Dodge City; Garden City Community College, in Garden City; Pratt Community College, in Pratt; and Seward County Community College/Area Technical School, in Liberal. For more information, please visit http://www.edukan.org.