This fall, over 90 percent of Oregon State University’s Corvallis campus courses will be offered remotely rather than in-person. However, the university will continue to charge full tuition, frustrating many who feel they may not be receiving the same course quality and university experience as during a traditional school year.
OSU’s remote learning refers to courses that have scheduled class times and video conferencing using Zoom. OSU’s Ecampus — the university’s online education platform, often hailed as one of the nation’s best providers of online course work — differs from remote instruction, since Ecampus courses do not have set class times or face-to-face engagement with faculty, and tend to be more flexible and self-guided than remote classes.
For out-of-state students, the tuition cost of Ecampus courses is significantly cheaper than their on-campus cost of $32,355 for three terms, leaving many to question why two online options — remote learning and Ecampus — differ so greatly in cost. Yet, many in-state students share a similar concern: why should tuition for remote learning remain the same as on-campus courses when the experience is clearly different?
The justification for charging full tuition for remote learning, as stated on OSU’s website, is that the “provisions for remote delivery of teaching and education services for students during the COVID-19 outbreak are not the same as the educational services offered through Ecampus.”
Mike Green, the vice president for Finance and Administration and chief financial officer at OSU, said via email, “Even while instruction in fall term will be offered primarily remotely, all instruction will continue to be delivered by OSU faculty and will offer a high-quality OSU education. While we are disappointed that we will not see many students on campus this fall, they will still receive excellent faculty instruction, engagement, student academic services and services support, as if they were on campus.”
Green also noted that, even in a pandemic, OSU’s cost of instructing its students remains the same as previous years, and has in fact increased due to investments made in technology and public health safety measures to aid course lab instruction during COVID-19.
“OSU’s Board of Trustees and the university are very aware of the impacts that the pandemic has had on our students and their families. In response, the university froze tuition rates from the last academic year for continuing undergraduate students who enroll this coming academic year. As well, the university has expanded financial aid for students with financial need,” Green said. “This month, student committees and student leaders are reviewing student incidental fees for possible reductions related to services that may be reduced or will not be offered this coming term.”
Tali Ilkovitch, a second-year student studying natural resources, is an out-of-state student currently living in Corvallis. Since the cost of tuition for remote learning is more expensive for out-of-state students, Ilkovitch opted to take Ecampus courses instead.
“I also figured the quality would be better, because those classes are already optimized for an online setting, and I had already taken two Ecampus courses prior to [spring] term. That kind of helped the transition [to online work], for me at least,” Ilkovitch said. “It went okay—it’s obviously not what I would’ve wanted it to be, but it went alright.”
Ilkovitch will continue to take Ecampus courses throughout fall term, and believes it’s “ridiculous” that the university is charging full tuition for remote learning.
“There’s a lot of services that they’re not providing to students anymore, and I think it’s just ridiculous that they are continuing to push on with things like a police force, and they’re closing our pharmacy,” Ilkovitch said. “They’ve cut salaries for professors in a time where, honestly, they should be raising salaries of professors and grad workers who have done so much extra labor in order to adapt these classes for students.”
Jarred Bierbrauer, a senior studying environmental science, plans on taking 15 credits and living in Corvallis this fall. Bierbrauer acknowledged that the tuition issue has “many moving parts,” and that he can see both sides of the argument: the administrative perspective, and the student perspective.
“As a student, I’m paying thousands of dollars at this university because I want to get that four-year quality educational experience. It’s not just learning the curriculum, but also the in-depth discussions and friendships and connections made along the way. That’s what makes it worth the price, in my opinion,” Bierbrauer said. “Now, obviously we couldn’t predict that a global pandemic would force us all indoors for seven-plus months, but I think I can comfortably speak for most of the student population when I say that this has affected us in a lot of negative ways.”
Bierbrauer said the transition to remote learning was difficult for him, since he is a visual learner, and that the state of the world — including the “worst financial and health care tragedies in human history,” the COVID-19 pandemic, and the modern-day civil rights movement with Black Lives Matter — makes it much more difficult to retain information and stay focused, let alone pay for things like books and fees.
“It sucks, because the quality of education is down, yet the price remains the same,” Bierbrauer said. “All of that being said, I’m not an expert by any means when it comes to running a university. Obviously, tuition makes up a huge amount of what keeps the campus running, and I doubt any university is actually making money during this pandemic. But if there’s more to it than what meets the eye, why haven’t we at least gotten a response or an explanation? The communication from OSU administration has always hardly stretched beyond a few emails per month or press releases, something that really bothers me.”
Bierbrauer also noted students aren’t demanding ridiculous cuts to tuition, but simply don’t want to pay thousands for “Zoom University.”
“I certainly believe that there’s a middle-ground that can be reached here, but for that to happen, both sides need to reach out and do their part,” Bierbrauer said.
Regardless of the cost of tuition, both the university and students across the U.S. are taking a financial hit as a result of COVID-19. Consequently, Green noted that OSU is continuing to work with other schools and higher education leaders to urge the federal government to approve additional relief for the nation’s universities and college students.
“We ask that all Oregonians share their support for such assistance by contacting members of Oregon’s Congressional delegation. The university has increased financial aid for students with financial need during the pandemic. Philanthropy to support students and employees impacted by the pandemic continues to be a priority of the OSU Foundation,” Green said via email. “Meanwhile, OSU has expanded childcare services for students and employees as a result of the pandemic, and is assisting students with food insecurity and need for computers and digital equipment to engage in remote learning through the work of the OSU Human Resources Services Center located on campus.”
More information on OSU’s COVID-19 response can be found on the university’s website.
By Jada Krening
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