Online classes may ease costs

Hannah Morris, a political science and public relations junior at OU, took an online class at Rose State College in addition to her course load at OU.

Some OU students choose to take online classes at junior colleges, not to save money, but because they believe it will be easier.

“Classes at junior colleges are less rigorous and more financially feasible,” Morris said.

When a student enrolls in an online class at junior colleges Rose State College in Midwest City or Oklahoma City Community College, a fixed fee of $12 is added to the cost of tuition.

This fee is added to cover the expenses the college takes on when offering classes taught in this manner. At Rose State, the cost per credit hour is $69, at OCCC it is $65. So, even with the $12 increase the cost of taking an online class is still fairly low. At OU however, in-state tuition is $117 per credit hour and out-of-state tuition is $236 per credit hour. This is the general cost of tuition at OU, and the fees can also be quite expensive.

If a student were to take classes online at OU, a fee would be added to the tuition and existing fees cost. The cost of this fee, according to OU’s Office of the Bursar, depends on the college the class is offered through, the number of credit hours the student has completed and the student’s major.

On top of the $573 dollar cost, including tuition and fees for non-resident students, another fee is added to the cost of taking an online class at OU.

Morris said she would recommend taking online classes at junior colleges or online colleges, but to take care in choosing classes and said to avoid taking core courses at other schools. In some cases, graduate schools will frown on taking classes at smaller, less rigorous schools. Morris advised to check graduate schools’ recommendations.

Forrest Bennett, political science and history junior, took a math class off campus and has seen many fraternity brothers take online classes at other schools while attending OU.

“A lot of times students take classes at online colleges, especially classes that aren’t extraordinarily pertinent to their major, so they want to get them out of the way in an easier way,” Bennett said.

Bennett said to be cautious in choosing classes and to be sure that the hours will transfer. He recommended checking with an advisor before taking classes outside of OU.

Katherine Borgerding

Katherine is a former staff member of The Oklahoma Daily who worked as Staff Reporter, Online Editor and Life & Arts Editor.