Back-To-Basics University

(CBS)  It's an easy-to-ignore building just off the interstate, with all the charm of an insurance office.

But this is where Kaileen Crane and her fellow freshman at this branch of Southern New Hampshire University have come to get started on their college degrees, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Schlesinger.

"It doesn't really matter what it looks like, it's the content that matters," said Crane. "The classes are exactly what I imagined."

You get what you pay for - and here, that's the point. This bare-bones school costs $10,000 a year for freshmen and sophomores. That's $15,000 a year less than students pay for tuition at the main campus.

"My first reaction was, 'Wow! Really? Could I really do that? That would be amazing,'" said Crane.

This is the first program of its kind. The students can earn a two-year degree or transfer all their low-cost credits to the main campus and continue school there. It started last fall with just 40 students. Next year they expect 100.

The classes - and even some of the professors - are the same as at the main campus.

But there's none of the trappings of college life that the students at the full-fare campus enjoy - a playing field, a fitness center, the dorms, or the dining hall. Here there's no ivy or quad, no football, no frats.

"There's not one right model of higher education," said Paul LeBlanc, the president of Southern New Hampshire University. "For these kids, in this time, this works really well. I don't think they feel deprived."

Students at the no-frills school can use all the frills they want here on the main campus for a fee - and even that's a bargain: $35 a year. But the thing is, even at that price, no one has taken them up on it.

"I'm not interested in any of that," said Crane of the extra services. "It would absolutely be a huge distraction."

Distractions are getting tougher to afford every day. So it's just the basics and just the facts - a better setting can wait for better times.

[glidescube]

Maybe.... Obama could get an evening class so he could understand economics 101.In that when you raise taxes on the Rich,everything they create,produce,or business they run will cost them more and they in turn,either lay people off or raise the price on all they produce.Which raises the percent of our income we have to spend to provide for our families.. Stupid is as Stupid does...

Posted by sirmarion-2009 at 5:14 PM : Mar 9, 2009
+ report abuse + permalink

Thats a myth that has been disproven. When you increase taxes on teh rich they simply dont pay them.

[Missyriver]

Getting the basics at College is good however to get the B.A. and other degrees you will still have to go to the Universities where it is still costly! I think the Universities over charge anyway, I have friends in their 30's and 40's that went to College right out of high school and are still trying to pay off their student loansl The education field is like any other money making industry. I was reading some old newspapers and back in the 70's you could buy a brand new car for under $4,000.00, bread for 25 cents, gallon of milk for 75 cents. Would be nice to bring back the good old days when life was simple and people didn't make much and managed without having credit cards and financing only their houses and cars.

[southwerk]

Your article says this is the first program of its type. I'm am more than a little insulted. I work at Northwest Arkansas Community College and we provide inexpensive preparation for the University of Arkansas and other colleges. They don't have a new idea. We've been doing this for years. Students come to our school and take the basic courses. They can either get an Associate's degree or take the hours they have and transfer to another institution. We have class sizes that average roughly 21 students. We provide tutoring and remedial work so that our students are ready for the university experience. Come down and do a story on my campus. Come talk to my students. We'll show you that the State or Arkansas is not an educational backwater but a place where we know how to inexpensively prepare students for university study.