Online classes are experiencing quite a boom these days what with the economy and all.

You save on gas, many “books” are available online, and online classes are sometimes cheaper than their classroom  contemporaries as colleges and universities don’t have to pay to find that extra bit of space to hold yet another class.

Now, online classes aren’t for everyone.  They require A LOT of self-discipline.

If this sounds like a good option for you, start investigating what’s available!

New York Attorney General is at it again – this time investigating links between the health care industry and colleges, rerports the New York Times.  Here’s an excerpt:

The investigation by the attorney general… appears to be focused on the adequacy of disclosure of policy terms and costs to students. Investigators also appear to be looking into whether colleges are receiving any improper payments in exchange for requiring students to use a particular insurer.

“We are primarily focused on whether insurance companies are paying schools to push students into health coverage they don’t really need and shouldn’t really want,” Benjamin M. Lawsky, special assistant to the attorney general, wrote in an e-mail message. “With students and their families being financially squeezed at every turn, colleges must ensure that they are looking out for students’ best interest first and foremost as opposed to their own financial bottom line.”

The request to State University of New York institutions, for example, asked for copies of colleges’ requests for proposals from insurers, contracts with insurers, statistics on premiums paid and information given to students about available policies, said Megan Galbraith, a spokeswoman for SUNY.

Contrary to what the average person believes, most professors don’t earn a lot of money.  Enjoy this excerpt from the Chronicle of Higher Education – the truth is likely much different than you would expect.

“During a debate among the Democratic presidential candidates at Saint Anselm College in January,
Charles Gibson, the moderator, used what he thought was a realistic example of a two-career academic
couple at the small college in New Hampshire. Between them, he ventured during a discussion about tax
policies, they would earn about $200,000 a year.

The audience met Mr. Gibson’s statement with laughter and guffaws. Even some of the candidates told
him he was off base — and they were right. On average, tenured associate professors at Saint Anselm
earned around $65,000 last year. For young assistant professors, the pay was closer to $50,000.

The TV anchor apparently is not the only one who envisions professors as among the well-heeled. When
The Chronicle videotaped interviews with ordinary people on the streets in Washington this fall, asking
them what accounted for large increases in college tuition, many pointed at faculty salaries. “It’s the
rising costs of tenured faculty and all that stuff,” said one woman.

So, what is the truth about faculty pay?

First, it varies wildly according to discipline and by what kind of institution is cutting the paycheck:
public or private, two-year or four-year. Second, although some faculty members earn enough to qualify
as rich, the vast majority do not.

Professors in disciplines like finance do quite well, earning as much as $406,781 a year, according to a
2007 survey of 100 major public institutions by Oklahoma State University. But in that same survey,
English professors earned $67,931 on average.

Still, the association is well aware that the public — and some legislators — believe there is a direct
correlation between faculty salaries and rising college tuition. The AAUP spent time trying to punch
holes in that notion, without much success.

In a 2004 report called “Don’t Blame Faculty for High Tuition,” the association said that on average, tuition and fees at public colleges increased by more than double the rate of faculty-salary increases
between 1990 and 2003. Tuition rose 6.6 percent per year, on average, while faculty pay rose by only
3.2 percent per year.

“If tuition and fee increases had been held to the rate of average faculty-salary increases during this
period,” the AAUP report said, “average tuition and fees would be substantially lower today.”

Compared with average Americans, professors are well off. While the average full-time faculty member
earned about $75,000 last year, the median household income in the United States was just over
$50,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But compared with other professionals with advanced
degrees, faculty members don’t fare as well. Indeed, professors are fond of saying that no one else with
as much education earns as little as they do.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, the average person with a
professional graduate degree earned $123,141 last year. That is almost $50,000 more than the average
professor. “