The
University of Florida is taking a bold—some say sneaky—approach to expanding
its enrollment in online courses. The school recently accepted an additional
3,118 students into its fall 2015 freshman class, but only for online classes
they access from home.
The
university had already accepted about 12,000 freshman students who will be free
to take either online or traditional courses right on the campus. The add-on
group will be limited to online classes for at least their first two semesters,
although once they accumulate 60 credit hours, they may be eligible to transfer
into regular freshman enrollment.
Florida
didn’t inform applicants in advance that there might be two different
acceptances, and none of the students specifically applied to be an online-only
enrollee, according to The Washington
Post.
The move
“allows us to offer admission to additional qualified applicants with academic
potential and demonstrated success,” Steve Orlando, senior director of media
relations, told The Post. The school
isn’t sure how many will actually enroll in the online program, but estimates
about 10% will probably take the offer.
In part,
the decision to admit additional freshmen as online students was made to help
fill the university’s new online undergraduate program, launched in 2014. The
Florida state legislature, which has been promoting online education, provided
$15 million in startup funding.
