Giving Compass' Take:

• Online courses create cost-effective and scalable offerings that make sense for free and low-cost programs, but some schools are trying to keep students in physical classrooms where they can get personal attention and support. 

• Many barriers besides cost keep disadvantaged students from seeking and achieving degrees, how can philanthropy help to remove those barriers? 

• Learn how free college programs often fail to meet students' needs.

Free community college programs are springing up around the country, aiming to bring more students to local higher-ed institutions. But several colleges experimenting with such programs are avoiding a tactic that other public institutions are increasingly using to boost numbers: online learning.

That’s the case in Tennessee—one of the first states to introduce a free college program, called Tennessee Promise—where advisors at some campuses steer students participating in the program away from online courses.

Students entering their first year in Tennessee Promise aren’t prohibited from taking online courses, says Judy Lowe, assistant vice president for academic resources and testing at Chattanooga State Community College. However, she and other officials at Chattanooga State worry that sending students straight into online courses might hurt their chances of success.

The concern, Lowe says, is that a first-semester students in the program may need more in-person support than online courses may provide. Unlike most four-year institutions, community colleges often do not require standardized tests such as the ACT or SAT to enroll, and are designed to accept students who may not have high enough GPAs to be admitted into a competitive institution.

Read the full article about free community college and online learning by Sydney Johnson at EdSurge.