School & District Management

Report Estimates Cost of Virtual Education

By Katie Ash — January 17, 2012 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The per-pupil cost of educating a student through virtual education is significantly less, on average, than the national average for brick-and-mortar schools, a paper from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute says.

The report also says that fully virtual programs are less expensive, on average, than blended-learning programs, which combine face-to-face and online learning, but the paper does not address whether student outcomes are equal.

The fourth in a series of papers called Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning, it found that virtual schools spend about $5,100 to $7,700 for each student, compared with $7,600 to $10,200 for blended-learning programs, and $10,000 per student for regular brick-and-mortar schools.

However, the authors of the paper, Tamara Butler Battaglino, Matt Haldeman, and Eleanor Laurens, all of whom work for the Parthenon Group, a Boston-based global strategy advisory firm, caution readers against settling on a price tag for online learning because of how widely the cost of such education varies from program to program. The cost of online learning also does not take into account student outcomes, say the researchers, who gathered data from public documents as well as in interviews with entrepreneurs, policy experts, and school leaders.

Some e-learning experts not involved in the Fordham analysis also expressed notes of caution about drawing conclusions from it.

“A careless reading of the report will lead some policymakers and educators to believe that online and blended should be pursued with cost-savings goals front and center,” said John Watson, the founder of the Evergreen Education Group, a Durango, Colo.-based organization that researches online learning.

“A closer reading reveals that such an approach will overlook the need for an initial investment of time and resources, leading to poor outcomes,” he said. “I’m concerned that policymakers will focus on what appear to be the bottom-line numbers, ... without acknowledging the numerous caveats that appear throughout.”

The paper identifies five cost drivers that outline the way different types of schools allocate resources: labor, content acquisition and development, technology and infrastructure, school operations, and student-support services.

While more than half of regular schools’ financial resources typically go toward labor costs, virtual schools can often reduce those costs by increasing the pupil-teacher ratio or by reducing teacher salaries by hiring only part-time teachers or paraprofessionals, says the report.

A version of this article appeared in the January 18, 2012 edition of Education Week as What Is the Cost of Virtual Ed.?

Events

School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Teaching Students to Use Artificial Intelligence Ethically
Ready to embrace AI in your classroom? Join our master class to learn how to use AI as a tool for learning, not a replacement.
Content provided by Solution Tree
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Teaching Webinar
Empowering Students Using Computational Thinking Skills
Empower your students with computational thinking. Learn how to integrate these skills into your teaching and boost student engagement.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management A Principal Was Put on Leave for Her Election Message. What Leaders Need to Know
Principals have to tread a fine line to avoid getting too political in their role as public school leaders.
7 min read
Illustration of two people confined within red and blue circles.
iStock
School & District Management Schools Want Results When They Spend Big Money. Here's How They're Getting Them
Tying spending to outcomes is a goal many district leaders have. A new model for purchase contracts could make it easier.
7 min read
Illustration of scales balancing books on one end and coins on another.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Reports Strategic Resourcing for K-12 Education: A Work in Progress
This report highlights key findings from surveys of K-12 administrators and product/service providers to shed light on the alignment of purchasing with instructional goals.
School & District Management Download Shhhh!!! It's Underground Spirit Week, Don't Tell the Students
Try this fun twist on the Spirit Week tradition.
Illustration of shushing emoji.
iStock/Getty