California Governor Jerry Brown said a new online college course program could help students get the classes they need to graduate more quickly. Brown joined San Jose State University officials as they launched the pilot program Tuesday.
Registration is now open for three courses in math and statistics. Each costs $150 dollars; a fraction of the cost of a regular class.
Brown said the concept could eventually help solve the problems of cost and access to higher education in California.
“This is an exciting moment in the intellectual history of our state and our university and you know, whatever the damn thing costs, it’s going to be a hell of a lot cheaper than high speed rail, I’ll tell you that,” joked Brown.
Brown has made online education a priority; he included nearly $40 million dollars in his budget proposal to support it.
San Jose State University is partnering with online course provider “Udacity” to offer the program. Officials said half of the one-hundred students allowed in each course must be from outside the university.
