麻豆传媒

On a summer Thursday night, more than a dozen 麻豆传媒, ages 22 to 71, are settling in to two classrooms here in a small brick building on the outskirts of the University of Maryland鈥檚 main campus. They鈥檙e here for their weekly in-person class .

Around the world, at 436 other congregational and educational facilities, nearly 11,000 other online 麻豆传媒 are doing the same thing.

The 麻豆传媒 here 鈥� stay-at-home moms pondering their next step and young adults recently returned from missionary service, among others 鈥� are in their final month of PathwayConnect , a yearlong, 15-credit program created by Brigham Young University-Idaho. It鈥檚 an ambitious endeavor with a simple goal: to prepare them to go, or return, to college.

PathwayConnect began in 2009 and has quickly developed into one of online education鈥檚 striking success stories. It has graduated nearly 24,000 麻豆传媒, more than 14,000 of whom have continued on for an online certificate or degree from BYU-Idaho. (BYU-Idaho鈥檚 online degree programs have been growing so fast 鈥� enrollment has increased tenfold, to more than 13,000, over the past five years 鈥� that the church recently established the online operation as a separate entity called BYU-Pathway Worldwide .)

As with the rest of BYU, a Mormon character is inseparably woven into PathwayConnect. Required religious offerings , like a two-course sequence on the Book of Mormon, mix with secular courses in writing , mathematics , and life skills , in which 麻豆传媒 learn about goal-setting and 鈥減rovident living.鈥� Students can use the program as an entry point to college, says Clark G. Gilbert, president of BYU-Pathway Worldwide, 鈥渁nd a path back to the faith.鈥�

But at a time when colleges of all stripes are expanding online to meet the needs of a diversifying student population, PathwayConnect is a model worth paying attention to. Several features of the program could make it relevant 鈥� and, in some form, adaptable 鈥� to other institutions, religious or not.

鈥楴o Credit Left Behind鈥�

Most obvious of these is the price . Students in the United states pay $69 per credit 鈥� and even less if they鈥檙e overseas. If they later enroll in BYU-Idaho online, they can continue to take the rest of their courses at the same price they paid for PathwayConnect. In the United States, that adds up to just over $8,200 for the 120 credits needed for a bachelor鈥檚 degree, half the price of traditional BYU-Idaho. That鈥檚 a striking bargain in a world where many political figures still openly dream of creating a .

How can the program promise such a low price? One reason is BYU-Idaho鈥檚 heavy reliance on adjunct instructors. But another key is that most of the student recruiting comes through word of mouth and the 16-million-member church, so Pathway鈥檚 marketing and recruiting costs are low. Until recently, its marketing involved primarily some Facebook promotions and asking its missionaries around the world to hand out small promotional cards to prospects.

Some big online colleges spend as much as 20 percent of their budgets on marketing and recruiting. By contrast, marketing costs for PathwayConnect amount to 0.14 percent of the BYU-Pathway Worldwide budget, officials there say, although that parent operation spends more than that marketing the rest of its online courses.

For most 麻豆传媒, Pathway also serves as the first stop in BYU-Idaho鈥檚 online academic program , which is deliberately designed as a series of 鈥� 鈥� 鈥� bite-size certifications that have gained popularity nationwide as a way to give people marketable credentials in the short run that could eventually lead them to to full degrees. After Pathway, every certificate a student earns can count toward an associate degree, and every associate degree can count toward a bachelor鈥檚. The 14-credit professional sales certificate , for example, counts toward the 60-credit applied associate degree , which counts toward a full 120-credit bachelor鈥檚 in business management .

鈥淲e have a phrase: 鈥榥o credit left behind,鈥欌�� says Mr. Gilbert, who was president of BYU-Idaho before taking on the new BYU-Pathway Worldwide post in February. Certificates and degrees are developed in consultation with an arm of the church called Self-Reliance Services, which assists in deciding which degrees to develop and where they should be offered, based on research it does on local-market employment needs.

The pedagogy is also based on proven ideas, including a hybrid model that combines online education with real-world encounters: The mandatory weekly in-person session, which is called Gathering , divided into one section for 麻豆传媒 30 and under and another for those who are older, provides 麻豆传媒 a live support network of peers, separate from the group of 麻豆传媒 they interact with online through their formal online classes.

PathwayConnect requires every student to take a turn as 鈥渓ead student鈥� during Gathering , directing the group in a review of the week鈥檚 work. Learning by teaching is a time-honored educational technique. Sharing this responsibility also fits with the teachings of Mormonism, explains Becky Michela, 66, the lead student for the older 麻豆传媒鈥� religion course, 鈥淭he Eternal Family,鈥� this particular evening explains. 鈥淎s Latter-Day Saints, we say there鈥檚 truth everywhere,鈥� she says.

Like the church itself, PathwayConnect relies heavily on volunteers, often older couples like Paul and Connie Nielsen, service missionaries here at the College Park program. They accepted a two-year commitment and now come each week to help out with tutoring and advising during the weekly Gathering. Both hold college degrees (his from BYU, hers from Ricks College, the two-year college that is now BYU-Idaho), but neither has formal academic training in education. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just brought up in the church, and you just learn how to teach and say yes,鈥� says Ms. Nielsen.

A Diverse Student Body

Online education, of course, isn鈥檛 a new idea for religious colleges. The evangelical Liberty University is well-known for its . Colleges with ties to Christian denominations are also active online, including Indiana Wesleyan University, where the online enrollment of about 9,000 is now three times the size of the residential student population, and most of the courses integrate some faith teachings as part of the coursework. (Students don鈥檛 need to adhere to Wesleyan beliefs to enroll; 鈥渢hey just need to understand we鈥檙e going to talk about it,鈥� says Stacy Hammonds, the provost.) Among the 190 or so Roman Catholic colleges that offer online education, the level of faith teachings in the coursework varies from extensive, as at Saint Leo University, where all courses put a focus on at least one of six Benedictine values, to much less so. Many institutions 鈥渕eet people where they are,鈥� says Michael Galligan-Stierle, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.

When PathwayConnect began, LDS leaders envisioned the program as a way to reconnect with young people who had strayed from the church鈥檚 teachings and church members who didn鈥檛 see education as affordable or connected to their faith. Mr. Gilbert notes that many church members are immigrants to the United States and working class. Church leaders learned that more than a third of their members said they couldn鈥檛 afford college or didn鈥檛 think they could.

A year after PathwayConnect began as a program for young people, it was adapted to serve older 麻豆传媒 too. Many of the 麻豆传媒 had tried college before but never finished; 11 percent of them have an associate degree and 10 percent hold a bachelor鈥檚 degree. Some 麻豆传媒 with degrees are taking PathwayConnect because it satisfies a requirement that BYU 麻豆传媒 have 鈥渁 BYU experience鈥� before taking classes online.

And just as the Mormon Church is becoming more international, so is PathwayConnect: Half the 麻豆传媒 and half the Gathering sites are located outside of the United States or Canada.

The College Park PathwayConnect 麻豆传媒 reflect some of that diversity. Several older 麻豆传媒, including one from South Africa, already have college degrees. Another from China hopes the courses will help her with her English skills.

The class also includes the 71-year-old Heather Kearns, who says she signed up at her son鈥檚 urging. In her native England nearly 60 years ago, she took a test that could have let her attend college. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 make the cut,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was a very great disappointment.鈥� She鈥檚 a convert to the LDS church, lives with her disabled husband and 16-year-old grandson, and will probably enroll for a degree in marriage and family studies when she completes PathwayConnect.

The younger class includes Kevin Vargas, 22, the son of El Salvadoran immigrants who describes his parents as living paycheck to paycheck. In El Salvador, his mother, who has a master鈥檚 degree, was a pharmacist; now she works in child care. Carlos Chaico, also 22, immigrated with his parents when he was 9. His dad, who was a civil engineer in Peru, now works as a pizza chef at a trendy Washington, D.C., pizzeria. Mr. Vargas heard about the program from his mother; Mr. Chaico, from fellow missionaries in Baltimore. Now weeks from graduating from PathwayConnect, they plan to attend BYU-Idaho鈥檚 physical campus, in Rexburg, this fall, with scholarship support from the church. They鈥檒l be roommates, in fact. Mr. Vargas hopes to study physics; Chaico, mechanical engineering.

One of their PathwayConnect classmates, Katie McCombs, 23, is less certain of her plans. After her mission in Indiana, she now works as a house cleaner and babysitter. She ended up in PathwayConnect only because her mother decided to go and signed up her up too. Now they attend together. A self-described introvert, Ms. McCombs said she had checked out some other online programs but thought they were 鈥渏ust trying to take your money.鈥� Initially she dreaded the idea of the weekly Gathering, but she says she鈥檚 come to love it: 鈥淵ou learn about God and you get credit for it.鈥�

Attrition and Self-Discovery

In each of three terms, 麻豆传媒 take one three-credit secular course and one two-credit religion course, though at times, even the secular courses can have a religious feel. On this night in College Park, for example, the lead student in the younger class has 麻豆传媒 pull up a map of biblical territory to illustrate a lesson about using coordinates. (To enroll, 麻豆传媒 must be members of the LDS church, be at least 17 years old with a high-school diploma or 19 without one, attend the weekly Gathering , and strive to follow the BYU-Idaho honor code. The church is also experimenting with PathwayConnect programs designed for people who are not church members, but have close connections to people who are. About 200 such 麻豆传媒 have enrolled now at 35 sites.)

Laura McCombs, Katie鈥檚 mother, never went to college. The family moved often because of her husband鈥檚 career in the military and because, as she puts it, 鈥淚 was always having babies.鈥� Now, though, the youngest of those five children is 13, and Ms. McCombs figures PathwayConnect might help her decide what鈥檚 next. Besides, she says, 鈥渢he price is way right.鈥�

For some 麻豆传媒 though, that price just isn鈥檛 enough. Nina Leake, 36, got through two of the three terms of PathwayConnect this year at College Park before deciding it wasn鈥檛 for her. 鈥淚 liked that it had the same values that I teach my kids and I try to follow,鈥� she says. But she found the Gathering frustrating.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to be the teacher,鈥� she says, nor did she enjoy being taught by some of her fellow 麻豆传媒. She plans to continue her studies, but will probably enroll this fall in her local two-year college, the College of Southern Maryland.

Perhaps not surprisingly for a program that uses low cost as a way to get 麻豆传媒 in the door, PathwayConnect experiences plenty of attrition. Since its inception, more than 66,000 麻豆传媒 have enrolled; based on the program鈥檚 statistics on graduates and current enrollment, about half didn鈥檛 stick with it.

This year alone at College Park, several 麻豆传媒 besides Ms. Leake didn鈥檛 complete. The Nielsens say health issues, family obligations, and in one case, discomfort with a curriculum that must be accessed via computer were too much for them. The program is not for everyone, they acknowledge. But for Christina Spoltore, 54, PathwayConnect has been a surprising source of self-discovery. A single parent of four, she signed up mostly because Ms. Michela, who heads up her local LDS Relief Society, a women鈥檚 organization, had encouraged her to. At first she didn鈥檛 realize what she was getting herself into. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to be a teacher or do public speaking,鈥� she says. But as she worked her way through the curriculum 鈥� early in the mornings before getting her son off to LDS religion classes, and late into the night after work at her family鈥檚 health food store 鈥� she found she was becoming more organized.

鈥淚 feel capable. I feel confident, I feel confident for prospects for my future,鈥� says Ms. Spoltore. Having her family, her bishop, and Ms. Michela鈥檚 support was important, as is the explicit religious component. 鈥淚t is church,鈥� she says of PathwayConnect. 鈥淚 feel like God is personally aware of me.鈥�

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