Big Illinois Online Degree Program Gets Thumbs-Up.

This post from from The Chronicle. " The University of Illinois Board of Trustees today set tuition and approved financing for Global Campus, the state system’s major program to offer online degrees and professional-development programs.

In January 2008, the university will enroll students in its first four offerings:
• A bachelor-of-science completion program in nursing.
• A master’s degree in education with a concentration in online learning.
• A graduate certificate in foundations of online learning.
• A graduate certificate in technologies for online learning.

Illinois residents taking master’s or graduate-certificate courses will pay $382.50 per credit hour. For the bachelor’s in nursing, the cost will be $616.50 per credit hour. (Nonresidents will pay 10 percent more.)

The board also approved $6.4-million in financing to cover the program’s start-up costs, which will have to be repaid to the state system by 2021.

The university decided to focus on nursing and online-education development because of market surveys showing high demand for those skills. Soon, officials said, it plans to offer 11 more online degree programs in areas such as business and engineering. "

Read The Chronicle for more about Global Campus.—Josh Fischman."