The University of London is to announce a fully fledged undergraduate degree course completely taught online for £5,650 per year over three years.
It is aimed at encouraging more part-time, working students, following a fall in their numbers after the increase in tuition fees in England.
There are plans for 3,000 students to take the computer science course.
It comes as the prime minister’s review of tuition fees aims to encourage more flexible and cheaper ways to study.
The review follows concerns about the high cost of university, with average graduate debts of more than £50,000.
Step change
The University of London claims to have been the first university in the world to offer distance learning – with correspondence courses in the 1850s.
But it is announcing its first online BSc course, to run from next year, with the content produced by academics at Goldsmiths, University of London.
The university’s deputy chief executive, Craig O’Callaghan, says it expects to attract “people who are working and need a more flexible approach”.
Part-time student numbers fell by more than 40% after fees increased in 2012 – and the current review of university funding has to find ways to reverse this trend.
There have been other online undergraduate degree courses – such as those pioneered by the Open University.
But the University of London says its entry into this market is the beginning of a “step change” in its approach to using online courses to reach more undergraduate students. Read more
