online learning

It's unlike any deal we've seen in the history of higher education. For the first time, a state university is buying a for-profit college.

Earlier this month, a regional accreditor in Indiana approved Purdue University's acquisition of Kaplan University. While Purdue administrators cast this as a move to enroll more adult students, some faculty and outside observers are deeply skeptical.

As college students return to their brick-and-mortar campuses, Harvard Business School is unveiling a virtual classroom designed to replicate the intimacy of the on campus experience.

____________________________________________________

The buzz around open online courses - often free and occasionally for credit - is fading. But as tuition prices and student debt soar, online learning continues to grow. One of the largest providers of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, is Harvard and MIT's edX. Some 2.5 million people have signed up for these classes, ranging from the Introduction to Computer Science to The Ancient Greek Hero.

So what do most students get for completing one of these courses? New knowledge and maybe a certificate of completion, but no credit. WGBH’s On Campus caught up with a student-researcher who predicts colleges and universities will soon offer some form of credit for MOOCs.

One of the world's most prestigious business schools is going digital. After much anticipation, Harvard Business School is launching its first online learning initiative.

A new survey shows the number of college students taking at least one online course has surpassed 7.1 million. But the report conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group finds the rate of growth in online enrollment has actually slowed in recent years.

Will the new face of college be a computer screen? 

WGBH's Kara Miller asked a panel of educational pioneers about the university of the future on this special edition of Innovation Hub, taped at Suffolk University’s Modern Theater in downtown Boston.