UT TeleCampus Cost Study (2002-2003)

Darcy W. HardyRob Robinson

Educause 2004

UT System

• 15 member institutions– Nine academic– Six health/medical

• Over 150,000 students

• Over 14,000 faculty

• 37% of all resident students who attend public universities attend a UT school

UT TeleCampus Mission

The UT TeleCampus is a service-driven, central support system for online education initiatives among the fifteen universities and health science centers that comprise the U. T. System as they strive to meet the educational needs of Texas, the nation and the world.

TeleCampus Stats• Over 20,000 enrollments to date• 17 fully online programs (degree & certificate)• Over 200 courses in TeleCampus catalog• 116 courses offered in Fall 2004• Over 220 faculty and instructors served across

System– Funded, supported, trained

• Course completion rates – 85% (Undergraduate) – 97% (Graduate)

TeleCampus Enrollment GrowthTeleCampus Enrollment by Semester

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

F99 S00 Su00 F00 S01 Su01 F01 S02 Su02 F02 S03 Su03 F03 S004 Su04

Headcount Enrollments

The TeleCampus Model• Course Development

– Development grants– Extensive faculty training (required)

• Collaboration– Most degree programs are inter-

institutional (MBA)

• Central Support– Services– TeleCampus Information System (TIS)

The TeleCampus Model

• Faculty– Primarily full-time tenure or tenure-track– Adjuncts as necessary to scale

• Financial Arrangement– Tuition, fees, and State formula retained

by host campus– Annual financial assessment back to the

TeleCampus

Financial Impact of UTTC• Direct financial support to campuses for

course development (1999-present) - $5.1 M• Revenue generated for campuses by

TeleCampus courses (1999-present) - $21.8 M– Tuition, fees, formula funding from TeleCampus

enrollments – Approximately 50% are “new” dollars– $6.8 Million in 03-04

Fall 1999 through Summer 2004

The Cost Study

• Directed by Board of Regents in 2002 to examine costs of delivery through the TeleCampus model

• Presented first round of finding to Regents in March 2003

• Second round of study in 2004, looking at 2003 data.

Study Methodology

• Meetings (Developing Co-Conspirators)– Office of Finance – Controller’s Office – Academic Affairs

• Eight courses identified for comparison– Single course per campus– Mix of graduate and undergraduate– Taught on-campus and online

• Common unit of comparison is one SCH

Problems With Survey

• Instrument delivered to Chief Business Officers on each academic campus

• Large variance in quality of responses• Instrument not clearly defined• Terms open to interpretation• Varying degrees of “full disclosure”• On to Plan B…..

Study Methodology• Information for on-campus costs from

the 2002 Annual Financial Report• SCH numbers from the Texas Higher

Education Coordinating Board Statistical Report for 2002

• Information for TeleCampus costs from the UT TeleCampus budget

Study Methodology• Budget categories in study (Educational &

General)– Academic Support– Student Services– Institutional Support

• Depreciation & Amortization– Study uses an allocated portion of costs– TotalOpExpE&G/(TotOpExpUniv-InvestPlant)– This factor is applied the total D&A amount to derive a

cost applicable to instructional delivery.

Instructional Costs

• Instructional costs include faculty salary plus teaching assistant stipends (if any)

• Study assumes that instructional costs are equal for on-campus and online delivery for a specific course because both types of courses are taught in-load by faculty

Avg. On-Campus Costs/SCH

$36.64

$16.35

$46.23

$37.99

$17.91

Academic Services Student Services

Institutional Support Operations & Management of Plant

Depreciation & Amortization

TeleCampus Costs/SCH

$37.19

$15.89

$14.13

$23.71

Infrastructure Student Services Faculty Support Operations

Delivery Costs Comparison

2002 Total Costs/SCH

TeleCampus costs vs. campus “bricks & mortar” costs

$0

$50

$100

$150

$200

$250

$300

$350

Delivery Costs Comparison

2003 Total Costs/SCH

TeleCampus costs vs. campus “bricks & mortar” costs

$0.00

$50.00

$100.00

$150.00

$200.00

$250.00

$300.00

Summary of Study

• Average component cost of delivery on-campus (excluding UTB)– $129/SCH for 2002– $123/SCH for 2003

• TeleCampus cost of delivery – $91/SCH for 2002– $88/SCH for 2003

Summary of Study

• Delivery costs through the TeleCampus are generally lower than the on-campus equivalent (second lowest for both years)

• As TeleCampus enrollments continue to grow, costs/SCH will decline over time at a faster rate than on-campus

Conclusions

• Online courses can be delivered at a comparable (or lower) unit cost than face to face…AND…

• Online courses can be offered with quality and outcomes that are comparable (or better than) face to face [Russell, et. al)

Conclusions/Cautions

• Extracting reasonable dollar amounts from budget line items can be tricky.

• Use only those applicable to delivery of instruction

• Depreciation & Amortization costs should be examined closely. Do not skip these very real costs.

• Not everyone will be happy with your results

Contact Us!

• Comments, suggestion, etc. are very welcome

• Rob Robinson– rrobinson@utsystem.edu

• Darcy Hardy– dhardy@utsystem.edu

www.uttc.org