Dive Summary:
- Less than a year after Florida created its 12th university, House Speaker Will Weatherford issued a challenge to the state's Board of Governors to consider creating an online-only university in order to increase access to distance education.
- The online-only university was also one of four options presented to the board in a report Monday by The Parthenon Group, with the other three being systemwide collaboration, allowing one or more institutions to serve as lead drivers of new programs or sticking to the status quo and letting each school continue to operate its own distance education program.
- State university provosts responded to the report with "serious concerns" about the costs, competition, accreditation and bureaucracy involved in the creation of a new university, but some feel that the state's Legislature may force its hand if they don't agree upon a solution soon.
From the article:
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida’s 12th university became a reality earlier this year, and there is already discussion about whether the state needs a 13th. House Speaker Will Weatherford challenged the board governing state universities to look into creating an online-only school in order to increase access to distance education. And Monday, the Board of Governors received the results of an independent study on the topic and discussed next steps. ...