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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The new online college offered by the University of Arkansas System received dozens of completed applications and inquires in its first six days of operation.
At a joint education committee meeting on Monday, system officials told lawmakers that 81 potential students have applied for eVersity and 94 others have requested additional information. Michael Moore, vice president for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas System, said the potential students are different from those who enroll at traditional universities because they tend to be older and many already have college credit.
"These people know the value of a college degree and they started down that path, but then something happened," Moore said. "We want to find those people and remove those barriers and get them back to school."
The youngest applicant was 17 and the oldest was 67, Moore said. The average applicant was 37 years old, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1OckS1H ) reported.
About 30 percent of the applicants were minorities, roughly 60 percent were first-generation college students and around 60 percent were women.
Officials with eVersity have been working to meet the needs of students, many of whom work during the day and can only take classes at night, Moore said.
Designing the online college has "literally given us the opportunity to rethink every aspect of the education process," Moore said. "Everything from the admission process ... to the way we want to provide resources to the students while they're in the classes and finally the way we're actually delivering that education."
Classes at eVersity are $165 per credit hour and any required textbooks can be accessed online at no additional cost.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com
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