The program goes a step beyond Hoosier Academies, Indiana’s first online charter school, which opened in 2008-09 under the auspices of Ball State University. At Hoosier Academies, students do coursework online but also attend classes two days a week at the school’s Indianapolis or Muncie “learning centers.”
A similar innovation at the college level is Indiana’s new partnership with Western Governors University. Few Hoosiers had heard of WGU before radio ads began promoting the program this summer. Gov. Frank O’Bannon helped found the online college back in 1997. In June, Gov. Mitch Daniels signed an executive order establishing a more formal relationship with the school through which Hoosiers can earn degrees in business, teacher education, information technology and health professions.
Much like the K-12 online programs, WGU assigns faculty mentors to students to supervise their work. Students get credit not based on hours in the classroom but by writing papers, completing assignments and passing exams that demonstrate content knowledge. Tuition averages $6,000 a year.
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