Business Week is carrying an interesting article about "Online Education With a Low-Cost Twist."
It profiles Western Governor's University, which delivers online education at a fraction of the cost of for-profit players. The university is a non profit institution, founded in 1997 by 19 governors from western states and headquartered in Salt Lake City. The school combines reasonable tuition --just $2,890 for six month term-- with an academic model that lets students accelerate completion of their degree based on prior subject knowledge. The price of a bachelors degree is about one half to one third the cost at for-profit institutions such as the University of Phoenix.