© Joe Shlabotnik

In the past, critics have contended that online colleges are not comparable to their traditional counterparts. But, public opinion may be changing. At a recent conference one presenter claimed that traditional colleges need to improve their programs to stay competitive with online colleges.

The Wired Campus reports:

"America's leading colleges and universities must "embrace massive experimentation" to stay competitive as more and more educational choices become available thanks to the Internet, said Reed Hundt, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and a senior adviser on information industries to McKinsey & Company, during a conference late last week on the future of the Internet.

"What happened to the recording industry is what is happening to the newspaper industry," said Mr. Hundt, referring to the financial troubles of many music labels and newspaper companies now that songs and news stories can be found free online. "And what's happening to the newspaper industry will probably happen to elite universities."

Many online colleges are offering alluring programs tailored to individual student needs. Instead of being assigned two years worth of general education requirements, some online students are able to focus more exclusively on their majors.