All over the world, the numbers of people in school at the different levels takes pyramidal shape. There are huge numbers at the elementary, but as they progress, the numbers decrease, leaving just a few in higher education. In the United States, some 65 million students were expected to enroll from K to K12 in the fall of 2015. In the same period, it was expected that 20.2 million would be attending Colleges and Universities.

It is estimated that 25% of fresh high school students in the U.S.A cannot graduate. For fresh students who enter colleges or universities, 1 out of 3 likely not make it to the second year. This dropout rate hinders national development because many people do not receive the full training they need to be functional in society. The National development would be hugely fostered if more adults receive education to become functional in society.

I am not saying that all adults who were not fully educated are not playing important roles in society. There are very prominent individuals in society who dropped out of school at some level. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, for example, at some point, dropped out of school. Though this list is not exhaustive, the number of people who dropped out of school or decided not to gain higher education and became successful is relatively few.

The majority dropped out or discontinued education and could not become successful in their careers because they lacked the knowledge they needed to develop their potential. However, if you check the history of those who, despite dropping out or discontinuing schooling, have become successful, you will find that they appeared to have found their life’s purpose and pursued those goals and, more importantly, they received some education later.

Education, as we all know, is a life-long activity. At any point in time, whether you dropped out of school or got honors at your graduation, you would need education. The school dropout who has found himself a vocation or gained employment needs education so he/she can be more productive, the dropout who has realized the need to school but has ‘grown past school-going age’ and desires to school obviously needs education, managers as well as employees need further education to keep pace with today’s rapidly changing world and gain increased wages and status respectively.

Somehow, the traditional education-dependent society we have created for ourselves and considers the ‘best’ limits our quest for continuing education. For many people, formal education ended the day they dropped out or graduated from High School, College, or University, even though technology makes it possible for us to sit in our houses and still get a quality education.

When technology – computers and internet connectivity – replaced physical classrooms and made it possible to study by distance in real-time, it appeared the issue of continuous education for everyone, including the dropout and the working class, have been solved. It appeared and still does that now the teacher need not leave his students, apply for study leave or leave of absence to pursue further education. It appeared the 50-year-old woman who dropped out of school several years ago could now school from home, and it appeared the father could learn what his daughter is learning at College using the same device he uses to call her.

That is what it appeared. But, on the other hand, those who dropped out of school due to finance issues and have not since had a breakthrough would not benefit, and those who have the money would not want to put their money into certificate employers and academicians alike would frown upon. So little appear to have changed for these two groups of people, though online Colleges and Universities abound.

Two prime issues are to blame. First, online education is too expensive for the target group of learners. Second, there is the perception that online Colleges and Universities do not provide holistic education like traditional Colleges and Universities. As indicated by Ed Vosganian – founder and CEO of College Funding 123, the cost of on-campus University for undergraduate is estimated at 42,000 dollars. In comparison, for the same group it cost around 21,000 dollars for online universities.

By comparison, we would say that it cost far less to study online. But we need not lose sight of those who mostly enroll in online universities. It is those in the middle and lower classes who opt for online universities. They include; the employee who has sacrificed pleasure for higher qualification in return for better wages, the unemployed who wants to gain employable skills, the dropout who wants to get back to school in the hope that there will be a brighter future, and the people living in the remote part of the world, especially in the developing world, who don’t even have the money to pay fees and so would have to learn and work simultaneously.

To these 21,000 dollars is money so huge, it is tough to raise. There are people of the higher income class who enroll in online universities. Still, online learning is not popular among these due to low prestige and the myths associated with online education. The online institutions will tell you; they would not put anything on your certificate to show that you received a non-traditional education. This kind of advert speaks of how society values online education. Online education is considered a cheap way of getting ‘watered down’ education.

Online Colleges and Universities were until recently considered diploma mills. This perception still exists, though empirical evidence tells us there is no disparity in the quality of students from traditional Colleges and Universities on one hand and online Colleges and Universities on the other. Online Universities and Colleges are doing their best to make online learning prestigious and bring down study costs, but they cannot do it alone. With government intervention, online learning can become prestigious and lower and middle-class-friendly.