American colleges face what some people are calling a "perfect storm" of problems. For example, college costs are
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, and there are not enough jobs for all those completing study programs. Yet employers
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failing to find enough workers with
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skills.
One solution may be found in the growing number and quality of online classes, such classes might
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colleges the way the Internet has already changed music, publishing, sales, and other businesses. Many top universities now attempt to offer online classes, from computer programing to the science of cooking. Many classes are at little or no cost, they are
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more often than traditional college programs.
At most colleges, a professor or teaching
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gives a lecture to students, who then do research, study, and homework alone. They are watching the lectures at home, and when they get to class, they are having more active discussions, or
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the teachers or working on projects.
Experts say the new technology will have a major effect on colleges. Some
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future classes may be a mix of online lectures and professors helping students work through difficult problems in person.
Chris Cullen is a college marketing expert, he says it"s really quite clear that more and more people need post-secondary education and training but a lot of them don"t
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getting it. However, competition from online schools, and
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about costs, will change traditional universities to some extent.
Chris Cullen says top universities with strong public images may expand in an online world, but he says less discriminating, less famous schools may struggle to get the interest of students.