Costs of a Web Course

These figures are based on the course format in BIO 226 & 372 in spring 1999: 15 teaching weeks with four assignments per week using resources on the web for activities based on concepts and principles in biology.                  

Course Development    Hours/Week  Cost
Instructor22.511,475
Support
  (per course)
101,818

Course Delivery
Instructor2010,200
Graders, etc.203,635
Cost per student in course (85)165
Cost per student finishing course (65)215
Student tuition300
Time per student (with graders, etc.)15 min
Time per student (without graders)30 min
Maximum enrollment (with graders)32
Maximum enrollment (without graders)16

Assumes:
1. Professor salary at $30 per hour or $45,600 for 9 months
2. Support salary at $10.69 per hour
3. One additional teaching credit in the web course for course maintenance
4. Fast computer with lots of memory and large hard drive; printer
5. Reliable infrastructure


Last Updated on 23-Oct-1999

10. Model of Course Delivery and Faculty Workload.