Massive open online courses better depict student potential

It’s concerning that the SAT — a test whose scores are known to vary according to relative wealth — dictates who gets into college and who doesn’t.

In early March, the Washington Post found a steady trend illustrating that students from families earning more than $200,000 a year average a combined score of 1,714 on the SAT, while students from families earning under $20,000 a year earn a combined score of 1,326.

The SAT is not always indicative of a student’s potential success in college — but it can correlate to how wealthy your school district is. SAT prep classes are expensive. So are Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests, which demonstrate college-level knowledge. It’s laborious for low-income students to stay afloat when passageways to college are unaffordable. 

Students should be aware of the alternative resources available to them for free — such as massive open online courses (MOOCs) — because standardized tests just don’t tell the whole story.

Open source textbooks have gained popularity in the growing market for free higher education materials, but MOOCs aim to boost students’ access to college in an even more pivotal way. One nonprofit consortium called EdX offers students video lectures and discussion forums to engage with one another. 

EdX’s MOOCs are a gateway for students of all income levels to prove their ability to excel in a college environment. Universities such as Harvard, MIT, the University of Texas and Caltech offer complete online versions of their prestigious classes — for free.

Universities sometimes directly accept a student that excels in one of their MOOCs. “Given that we know how rigorous MITx classes are, seeing a student’s performance in that class can help calibrate us to their readiness for an MIT education,” says Stuart Schmill, MIT’s Dean of Admissions. 

If not, the student may still choose to list the MOOC on his or her resumé under skills or relevant education. A completed MOOC is a valuable asset, comparable to a week-long leadership conference.

Most of the MOOCs are in computer science, mathematics and engineering, though EdX also hosts more specific courses, like Chinese history and poetry, according to the Washington Post. 

A school district with low funding may not be able to afford the training it takes to license an AP teacher — it can range from about $2,050 to $4,650 to develop each course. So, some schools cannot offer those courses. In much the same way, wealthier students can afford SAT prep courses that may help them pass an aptitude test, which doesn’t necessarily amount to real achievement. The economically disadvantaged might not have these same opportunities. The student from the less-advantaged school district may be just as intelligent as a wealthier student, but it’s hard to prove that without the availability and challenge of rigorous coursework.  

MOOCs also lend crucial insight into certain areas of study. When about one in four full-time students drops out or transfers within three years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, it’s necessary to know what sort of coursework one would like to pursue. The unfortunate truth is that time wasted in the wrong major is a major sunk cost. MOOCs offer students a chance to really experience college courses in the areas they’re curious about, rather than leaving the students to flounder.

With the expansion of the Internet, competition will only increase and more schools will develop their own open online courses. Such options can overshadow the singular authority of the SAT and instead give the most qualified students a chance at a degree.