Photo: Stephanie Strasburg

During his junior year of high school, Wade Lipscomb enlisted in the military because he didn’t know how he would pay for college. That soon changed, thanks to The Pittsburgh Promise.

Since its inception, the program has helped nearly 12,000 students like Lipscomb attend college by funneling $170 million into fees, tuition, and living expenses. But in a few years, that funding will dry up.

On-campus protests over social issues can be a typical part of the college experience, but these West Virginia University students are protesting for a different reason. They're speaking out against the budget cuts their university has made.

It's part of their ongoing fight against the elimination of programs by West Virginia University President Gordon Gee—a move that's left students like Felicia Carrara, who is majoring in international and Russian studies, in limbo and unsure of the future.

Interest in online learning continues to grow, fueled in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, some colleges and universities are launching new online degree offerings to meet students' increasing demands for more accessibility and flexibility. 

In this interview, Fernando Bleichmar of Academic Partnerships and Coursera's Jeff Maggioncalda weigh in with their thoughts on the future of online learning, the role of degrees vs. credentials in the job market, and what AI will mean for online education.