University of Iowa to Close Three Off-Campus Learning Centers Due to Preferences for Online Classes
United States North America International Studies Higher Education News by Erudera News Mar 07, 2024

The University of Iowa Board of Regents recently proposed closing three off-campus learning centers and switching graduate programs to an online format.
The reason behind this suggestion is the lack of enrolled students, Erudera.com reports.
According to school officials, if in-person classes were offered, the staff would still struggle with instruction, and would have to offer only 50 to 80 percent of lectures due to the low enrollment.
Dean of Iowa’s Business College Amy Kristof-Brown said that the decision is more about where the resources are distributed.
“It’s a decision about where you allocate your resources. We’d rather be able to teach 40 students than teach eight students,” Kristof-Brown told Inside Higher Ed.
The request to close the Birchwood center also notes the instruction of both in-person and online courses has become an ineffective use of resources.
The three centers where in-person courses will no longer be offered and are planned to close are Tippie College of Business Cedar Rapids Learning Center, Birchwood Learning Center in Davenport, and Scott Community College Learning Center in Bettendorf.
“There has been a decrease in applications to the learning center, while at the same time, the program is expanding the online MSW program due to increased demand. It is anticipated prospects in the region of Scott Community College will apply to the online program,” according to the request to close the Scott Community College Learning Center location, which offers a Master of Social.
The University of Iowa was founded in 1847 and is one of the oldest higher education institutions in the state of Iowa. For half a century, the center in Riverdale has been serving remote students pursuing master’s degrees in social work.
As of fall 2023, 31,452 students are enrolled in the university. Of these, 22,130 were undergraduate students, 6,079 were graduates, and 1,883 were pursuing PhD degrees. International students account for 5.5 percent of the total student body at the University of Iowa.
The increase in demand for online classes, which mainly spiked in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is projected to continue increasing to over 200 percent until 2025
A 2023 survey by Champlain College Online found that most respondents were satisfied with colleges that offer online classes. Some 84 percent of them say these institutions have the same or better fulfilled their needs compared to institutions that teach the majority of classes in person.
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