by Lana Douglas
Photo Editor
Bryan College and CollegePlus!, a distance learning program, have formed an academic partnership to help students earn a degree in Liberal Arts through CLEP, online classes and other nontraditional means.
CollegePlus! is a Christian-based distance-learning program devoted to helping primarily homeschooled students earn a degree in less time and less expensively than a traditional college, according to the CollegePlus! website.
“The CollegePlus! program is a way for students to earn college credit…who probably can’t afford to [go to college] otherwise,” said Dr. Bradford Sample, academic vice president.
Currently, Bryan is only offering a Liberal Arts degree through CollegePlus!, but is considering adding Communications and Business Administration degrees in the future.
Is the fast track the best track?
Although CollegePlus! seems like the fast track to completing a degree and saving as much money as possible, there are several benefits that students could miss out on by opting to complete a degree through nontraditional methods.
“For a lot of academics we tend to think, ‘well of course [learning] all happens in the class,’ but it doesn’t. Most of what you really get out of college happens outside of the classroom. That’s something that a CollegePlus! student is never going to get as long as they stay online,” said Sample. “[CollegePlus!] is a way to go to college in a less expensive fashion; it is not a better way to go to college.”
Dr. Jeff Myers, associate professor of communication studies and Bryan College field representative, said, “I think there are real advantages to the online program. As far as the cons, what students in an online program miss is that on-campus camaraderie…when students are not on a college campus they have to intentionally opt into extracurricular activities.”
The goal of Bryan College, according to Sample, is to be able to minister to every part of a student’s life and not just academically.
“I would love to see people [on-campus], where they can not only grow mentally, which does happen online, but then grow spiritually and socially and be whole persons,” said Sample.
Students who participate in CollegePlus! have the option of completing their core classes online and then coming on-campus to complete their chosen degree.
The future of education
However, even with the disadvantages of this form of nontraditional education, CollegePlus! is still a practical option for students who are highly motivated and cannot afford a traditional four-year college.
“I don’t believe that an online education is the very best education, but it is a trend that we have to pay attention to,” said Sample.
Bryan is working on branching out with other types of classes, like online classes for students who are on-campus and hybrid courses that would meet partially online and in a classroom setting. These types of classes would allow on-campus students to enjoy the flexibility of an online class and yet still get the face-to-face interaction that comes from living on campus, according to Sample.
“The role of a small four-year college is being changed dramatically by the presence of all the online options,” said Myers. “Bryan’s choice will be: do we participate in that and find ways to reach those students, or do we appeal to an increasingly small population of students who want the four or five-year college experience.”