A university degree is increasingly crucial for career success and financial stability. Yet the soaring costs of college tuition and fees put that dream out of reach for many. According to the NCES, average undergraduate tuition rose 25% between 2008-2018, vastly outpacing wage growth.[1] Student debt now exceeds $1.5 trillion nationally. [2]
Artificial intelligence offers glimmers of hope to rein in runaway costs and improve access. Online learning, predictive analytics, intelligent automation, and personalized tutoring could make degrees affordable again. But this will require rethinking educational models with student outcomes foremost. Here are ways AI could reduce crushing college costs if deployed thoughtfully.
The Benefits of Partially Online Education
One strategy leverages online education across general education credits, particularly early on. Many introductory level courses teach foundational concepts common to all students. Delivering these online could slash instructional costs by untethering content delivery from physical classrooms.
According to a Columbia University study, online courses reduce university spending by 36% to 57% compared to in-person classes. [3] Savings accrue from larger class sizes, less overhead, and the e-learning format requiring fewer instructional hours per credit. These savings could be passed to students through discounted tuition for online gen ed credits.
This hybrid model keeps upper level major courses and labs in-person for hands-on learning. But completing prerequisites digitally makes the total degree path far more affordable. Early online gen ed also helps students test out different subjects to inform major selection before paying for specialized in-person instruction.
Making National Online Universities Freely Accessible
Some propose creating tuition-free online universities run by the government to fully democratize access. These state-funded national universities could offset the skyrocketing costs at traditional colleges.
The online format inherently scales at massive levels. Adding additional students comes at marginal cost since online courses are largely self-paced. Expert instructors could be recruited to develop online programs centrally, amortizing costs. Providing universal college education digitally could significantly broaden skills across the populace.
Skeptics argue discipline and student outcomes may suffer without in-person accountability. There are also upfront technology investments and design costs. But expanding national programs like SNHU's College for America could begin making degrees far more accessible to lower-income students.
Leveraging AI-Enhanced Student Advising
At traditional residential colleges, AI also offers ways to improve experience while optimizing resources. Course planning, scheduling, and major selection are key friction points for students. But AI-powered advising systems can provide guidance customized to each learner's needs, interests, and academic data.
Georgia State University's AI-enhanced advising platform proactively alerts students to potential issues with course registration, credit requirements, and major planning. It has increased graduation rates by over 5% while lowering time to degree. [4] Other schools use AI chatbots as virtual advisors scaled to the student population. Tailored guidance helps students graduate sooner by eliminating poor course choices.
These AI advising systems also help colleges align course offerings with student demand. Predictive analytics forecast enrollment and schedule courses to maximize space utilization. Students get the classes they need faster. And AI scheduling eliminates guesswork freeing up human advisors for higher-value mentoring.
Automating Operational Tasks to Reduce Waste
Colleges are rife with inefficient manual processes that technology could optimize. Student admissions, enrollment management, financial aid processing, tuition collection, and graduation tracking all require extensive repetitive administrative work.
Applying intelligent automation through AI techniques like natural language processing, machine learning, and RPA bots could eliminate huge swaths of labour-intensive paperwork. Georgia Tech automated over 60,000 hours per year of advising appointment scheduling using AI, saving $1.5 million annually. The hours and dollars saved reduce operational costs that burden students through tuition.
AI financial assistance chatbots can also help students navigate the complex paperwork for grants, loans, and aid applications. Automating scholarship criteria matching and forms processing accelerates funding turnaround. AI's efficiency dividends across university systems offer one of the clearest paths to college cost reductions.
The Scalability of AI-Powered Teaching Assistance
While emerging technologies will change higher education, faculty teaching capabilities remain paramount. Yet most colleges maintain unfavorable student-to-faculty ratios, with large lecture formats. AI teaching assistants could alleviate this bottleneck to improve learning experiences cost-effectively.
Georgia Tech professor Ashok Goel has pioneered using AI TAs in his courses. The virtual teaching assistant "Jill Watson" handles common student questions, freeing Dr. Goel to provide deeper individual feedback. AI TAs never tire of responding, have infinite patience, and speak 35 languages – valuable supplements to human professors.
As natural language AI advances, virtual assistants can answer increasingly complex questions, provide feedback on assignments, and refer nuanced issues to professors. Automating repetitive tasks expands faculty's reach. Combined with online components, AI instruction makes colleges more affordable.
The Path Toward Education Equality
A college education remains one of the highest return investments for career prospects. But runaway tuition inflation has strained budgets and forced many students to abandon dreams. While technology alone cannot fix entrenched social inequities, thoughtfully implemented AI does offer concrete ways to democratize affordable, quality higher education.
Targeting general education, student services, and operational processes for modernization using online platforms, automation, and intelligent tools can realize major cost reductions. This requires designing systems around student success metrics rather than operational efficiencies alone. But the payoff for learners would be immense.
Done right, AI could help society reverse the college affordability crisis separating millions from the transformative experience of higher education. The goal should be education equity centered on the diverse individuals we want to empower, not outdated models. By augmenting human teachers with scalable, personalized learning technologies, universities can sustain excellence while reducing prohibitive costs.
Works Cited
[1] Ma, Jennifer, Matea Pender, and C.J. Libassi. “Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2020.” National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, 2020, https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2020/2020144.pdf.
[2] Friedman, Zack. “Student Loan Debt Statistics In 2022: A Record $1.75 Trillion.” Forbes, 24 Feb 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2022/02/08/student-loan-debt-statistics-in-2022-a-record-1-75-trillion/.
[3] Bower, Joe, and Clayton Christensen. “Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave.” Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 1995. https://hbr.org/1995/01/disruptive-technologies-catching-the-wave
[4] Kamenetz, Anya. “How One University Used Big Data To Boost Graduation Rates.” NPR, 30 Oct. 2016, https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/10/30/499200614/how-one-university-used-big-data-to-boost-graduation-rates.
Comments