Distance Education: States’ Rights and Institutional Responsibilities
October 28th, 2008Dr. Russell Kitchner is Director of Regulatory and Governmental Relations at American Public University System. I asked him if he would provide a guest blog article on the changing environment of state regulations of distance education programs.
Whenever I contemplate the overarching purpose for investing in higher education, I recall Thomas Carlyle’s proposition to the effect that we should “Let each become all that he was created capable of being.” I consider this to be one of the guiding principles at the core of higher education as it has evolved in America, and given that ideal, I believe that the critical issue facing American higher education and the individual states is affordable access to quality higher education. For those of us who work toward that end, our responsibility is not to provide everyone with the same context in which to fulfill that objective; it is only to extend an equal opportunity by which everyone may do so.
