Aspen University Adopts $100 per Credit Hour Tuition as its Standard Tuition Model for 100% Online Degrees

DENVER, Nov. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Aspen University delivered an update on its progress over the past year to its Chairman today at a quarterly conference call. The focus of the update was on the university's continued strong alignment with federal regulatory requirements concerning financial aid and the university's progress against its mission of socially responsible growth and meaningful public service.

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At the conclusion of the call it was agreed to adopt the current tuition incentive model as the standard for degree programs moving forward. This provides students a blended tuition rate, some with a pre-pay, of $100 per credit hour for most degree programs. Of special note are the MBA and MS in Technology graduate degrees that now have a standard tuition total of $3,600.

"We started this as a summer special, but found that the lower tuition makes the programs, especially the graduate programs, much more student friendly and lowers the need for students to seek alternate funding such as credit card debt or federal financial aid," said Dr. David E. Lady, President of Aspen University. "We also discovered that the lower tuition keeps our usage of federal aid funds very low, currently only about 7% of our students use financial aid compared to the overall student population. This is in comparison to many high profile schools that can have up to 90% of their student population receiving financial aid."

In addition, Aspen reported good progress against the strategic plan of adding socially responsible programs to the academic curriculum. Aspen has added several programs designed to make good education in important key social fields available at a very low cost. The schools programs in psychology and addiction counseling, approved through the NAADAC (www.naadac.org) are a good example. Also a good example is the bachelor's degree in foodservice and restaurant management, which is provided in partnership with the National Restaurant Association (www.restaurant.org) at $90 per credit hour for people working in restaurants that are members of the association. Further, 15% of the tuition for this degree is donated back to the association's educational foundation.

"We are on the right track with our programs and tuition," concluded Dr. Lady. "There is a role in higher education for student focused, self-funded schools like Aspen. We have to be responsible and socially aware, and we have to constantly strive to provide the highest quality education at the best possible price. Aspen's good reputation is growing and we are showing that it is possible to be successful the right way, using the same curriculum and same high quality faculty in an online education model."

Aspen University, the first accredited university to offer a 100% online MBA, is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). The Accrediting Commission of the DETC is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency and is a recognized member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).  Located in Denver, Colorado, Aspen's Chairman is Patrick C. Spada; its President is Dr. David E. Lady.  Aspen offers degree programs at the Associate, Bachelor, Master, and Doctor Degree levels, in a variety of fields and disciplines. Please visit www.aspen.edu for more information.

SOURCE Aspen University