Online Education Catches the Attention of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Part 1 of 3

Dovie D. Dawson — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:11:00 EST

Welcome to PA TIMES Online's newest column, The Learning Corner. The column's author is ASPA member Dovie Dawson (see About the Author box). Columns will be published once monthly and focus on the benefits of online education within the higher education realm, beginning with this three-part series on how one of the fastest growing online educators became a case study for the U.S. Senate.

Dovie D. Dawson

For-profit institutions are a hot topic within the walls of the White House. This is due to the dramatic increase of enrollment in distant or commonly known as online educational programs across the nation. However, most for-profit institutions rely heavily upon federal funding which supports their student base. Senator Tom Harkin (Harkin) of Iowa, a Democrat and chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), became interested in a fast growing for-profit institution right in his very own backyard�Ashford University, subsidiary of Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (BPI). This topic will be covered in three parts: investigation/hearing, response of BPI and societal implications.

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Online Education Catches the Attention of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Part 1 of 3