Change Drives More Federal Funds for Distance Ed Students As lines blur between traditional and nontraditional students, distance learners get more clout to demand more dollars. by Charlotte Thomas, Career & Education Editor, Peterson's

As debates go, the one about financial support for distance education students is relatively free of acrimony. Most agree it's time to modify existing laws that govern how much federal aid is given to distance learners. However, not everyone agrees on what changes should be made or how to accomplish them.

Some fundamental questions have emerged that first need to be addressed. Ken McInerney, Assistant Director for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) asks, "How do you protect the financial interests of both students and government? How do you make sure distance education programs are worthy of federal funding? Everybody is searching for the right answers."

In the past, laws that determined eligible recipients of federal dollars were created when, with few exceptions, students had to physically attend classes for a defined period of time. But with technical innovations affecting the delivery of education and the number of distance learners growing exponentially, past legislation no longer applies.

The Department of Education took notice and sent to Congress proposed changes to the Higher Education Act of 1965. Whatever is finally legislated will take time to implement, but the implications of the discussions are rippling through academic circles and Internet chat rooms today.

The lines blur between traditional and nontraditional students
Distance education got its start by offering courses to farmers who couldn't leave their fields to learn how to repair wagon wheels. From those humble beginnings the need for distance education has developed right along with technology able to deliver it.

The number of distance learners has steadily grown to include working parents, employees keeping their skills sharp, and people changing careers. College and university demographics are evolving as is the definition of "student."

Increasingly, students are dictating the where, when, and how of what constitutes postsecondary education, observes Michael Goldstein of the law firm of Dow, Lohnes & Albertson. "We're moving toward competency-based education and getting away from the notion of hours, days, weeks sitting in a classroom to demonstrate what you know," he asserts.

As a result, institutions are under pressure to offer new ways to learn. Observes Chari Leader, Ph.D., Dean of Enrollment Management at Regents College, an institution that was created to serve distance learners twenty-seven years ago, "Today, the mix of traditional residential and nontraditional students who are 25 or older is nearly fifty-fifty." Without changes to the laws governing financial aid to distance education students, those who can only access higher education through distance education will have to squeeze into the traditional mold or be ineligible for financial aid, she points out.

The impact of technical innovation on distance education
With the onslaught of electronic communication, distance education is no longer distant. Technology has irrevocably altered the relationship between student and professor and even what is considered a classroom situation. Federal and state regulations have not kept pace.

Online courses are becoming commonplace
The emergence of the Western Governor's University (WGU) brings real clout to the online education table. WGU is a virtual university sponsored by fifteen states and one U.S. territory that provides access to thousands of courses in hundreds of institutions. Goldstein likens WGU to a 10,000-pound gorilla. "It established instant credibility for distance learning," he claims. Observes Leader, "When you have 15 governors talking about the need to do something more for distance learners, you are more likely to get heard."

Various other consortiums have sprung up to fill the demand for distance learning, among them the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, which consists of twelve universities.

The compelling need to retrain the U.S. technical work force
News media of late have been filled with articles about thousands of technical jobs going begging because of lack of qualified employees. In addition, the workplace no longer offers life-long employment. It's been said that people will go through three career changes by the time they retire. That means people of all ages need to learn new skills. "Retraining and re-education are multiple forces pushing this issue," argues Leader.

What's taking place in Congress?
In 1965, when higher education fit the traditional, resident student model, Congress mandated that students taking courses through telecommunications had to fit the same requirements as on-campus students. In 1992, the law was amended to give some leniency to institutions that offered distance learning, but it prohibited institutions that offered more than 50 percent of their courses through distance education from receiving federal funds. It was thought this would protect taxpayer money from being given to unscrupulous correspondence schools.

Unfortunately, the booming virtual university baby got thrown out with the bath water of those illicit programs. Notes Leader, "Government had to tighten the requirements so that abuses couldn't happen. In doing so, legitimate institutions were affected."

Says Leader, "It's not that there are a lot of people against changing the law so much as the dilemma of how we go about administering aid." Several red flags exist.

Abuse by distance education deliverers
Dishonest providers existed before, but with advances in technology come more insidious ways for unethical practices to occur. "How do you adequately provide distance education to the consumer while at the same time encouraging use of technology?" asks Goldstein. "Regulations and standards were written when education was students sitting in a classroom with a teacher." There is the real threat that students could be misled into taking courses that are worthless.

Along with other hot issues whirling around Internet censorship is the delicate balance between government control over distance education courses on the Internet without restrictions on their content.

Accreditors must keep up with technical change
Distance education makes it possible for an institution to be located in Colorado, licensed by Colorado, but have students all over the world. "The question becomes who regulates what?" says Goldstein. Accrediting agencies might not be able to keep up with increasing technical innovations.

Research into what works for distance education
With these trepidations in mind, the Department of Education is proposing the establishment of hands-on experimental sites for research into the nuts and bolts of distance education to find out what works and doesn't.

Change in accreditation standards and methods
In addition, regional accrediting agencies will develop specific standards for distance education students.

Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships
The administration is proposing $30 million for a competitive grant program beginning in 1999. The funds would promote partnerships between academic institutions, community based organizations, software and technology developers, and private industry to research how technology can be used to enhance the delivery of education to distance learners.

Demand will drive a solution
If institutions don't adapt and make distance learning available, the consumer will find a way to get it. Distance learning is here to stay. "People recognize it's only a question of when," claims Goldstein.

Read about the proposed changes to the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Return to the Distance Learning sector.