NCOE Asks Congress for Additional Funding, Inclusion of Distance Ed Students in Disbursement
Today, the National Council for Online Education (NCOE) has written a letter to ask congressional leadership to ask for their support: in providing additional funding for these students and institutions; by recognizing and qualifying distance education students as part of any future disbursement calculations; and to provide broad waiver authority to the Secretary of Education for a temporary period of time. These actions are critical and will not only have an immediate impact on the lives of over a million students but will also assist institutions in preparing for the ongoing challenges of providing consistent, high quality educational offerings at time rife with uncertainty.
As leaders in the field of online learning, the National Council would like to express appreciation and admiration for the leadership that online educators and administrators are taking in helping minimize academic disruption across the nation. The quickness in which institutions have been able to transition face-to-face learning to remote learning has required tremendous effort and expense. Over the next months and years the increased use of online education will serve a larger population of learners than could have been imagined even months ago.
Our asks within the letter support:
Including Distance Education Students in Direct Student Support
We request that future funding be adjusted to include students studying fully at a distance. According to the most recent IPEDS Fall Enrollment report, 16.7% of all higher education students were enrolled exclusively in distance education courses. That is roughly one-in-six of all postsecondary students, and that is simply too many students to be excluded from current and future assistance.
Those enrolled in distance programs are excluded from the CARES Act calculation, and we are seeing that they are receiving less direct assistance because of this, but they also have experienced adverse financial impacts as a result of Covid-19. We believe these students should be included in future calculations for federal assistance because:
Many distance students are adults who experienced significant financial losses.
Even online students rely upon the physical resources of their campuses.
It is likely that many distance education students are experiencing similar financial losses as commuter students but are currently excluded from the calculation of CARES Act funds.
Many fully distance education students are now paying for essential instructional resources that previous face-to-face students are not required to pay for.
The exclusion of distance education students from emergency assistance sends the message that they are second-class students undeserving of assistance.
The lack of direct CARES Act financial assistance to distance education students risks the continued enrollment of almost 17% of all students.
All students are experiencing financial hardship and we request that the excluded fully distance students be included in current and future calculations of aid related to Covid-19. We also believe that additional support will be needed for all institutions as they develop and implement high quality online education offerings and provide the necessary technical and financial assistance that all students will need. It is critical that all institutions, including those who are exclusively serving online students, be included in any future institutional financial assistance.
Support Extensions of Department of Education Waivers
As institutions move from the emergency phase into planning for the summer and fall terms, the uncertainty of whether existing regulatory Covid-19 waivers from the Department of Education will be extended has hampered decision-making. We support the request from the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions in the letter of April 21:
“Given the uncertainty that lies ahead, we urge you to expeditiously extend this critical flexibility through the 2020-21 academic year to allow institutions to make critical planning decisions necessary in the coming weeks.”
We trust that this letter has helped highlight the enormous and urgent challenges facing distance education students and the institutions that serve them. In future legislation and actions we strongly urge you to treat all students the same regardless of instructional modality. As organizational leaders in distance education, we stand ready to assist Congress and the Department of Education in any way possible as we all work together to strengthen America during this time of unprecedented challenges. We appreciate your time and attention to these issues and we and our institutional members look forward to working with you.
